Table 1.
Socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics of participants with chronic and non-chronic MDD in community studies
| Satyanarayana 2009 | Angst 2009 | Rubio 2011 | Murphy 2012 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 35,323 | 425 | 43,093 | 8841 |
| n chronic (lifetime prevalence, %) | 1087 (2.7) | 55 (5.7) | 1439 (3.2) | 398 (4.6) |
| n non-chronic (lifetime prevalence,%) | 2863 (8.2) | 112 (20.9) | 4256 (10.1) | 967 (10.4) |
| % chronic among all depressives | 27.52 | 32.93 | 25.27 | 29.16 |
| Country | Canada | Switzerland | USA | Australia |
| Diagnostic assessment | Modified WHO CIDI | SPIKE | AUDADIS-IV | WHO CIDI 3.0 |
| Age-range | > = 15 y.o | 19/20–40/41 y.o | > = 18 y.o | 18–85 y.o |
| Chronic depression | Longest MDE > 2 years Any lifetime episode lasting 2 years or more | ‘long-term’ major and minor depressive episodes > 2 years, plus work or social impairment | CMDD: MDE > 2 years Lifetime CMDD: a history of > = 1 MDE > 2 years Current CMDD: a history of > = 1 MDE > 2 years, currently symptomatic | Patients with MDD > = 2 years and those with Dysthymic Disorder |
| Non-chronic depression | Longest MDE < 2 years | 2 acute MDE (N = 112); 3 minor depressive disorders (N = 75); 4 subjects with or without depressive symptoms (N = 183) | All other individuals with MDD were classified as having NCMDD | MDD < 2 years |
| Age (yrs) | – | – | – | C > NC |
| 15–25 | C < NC | – | – | – |
| 26–45 | C < NC | – | C > NC | – |
| 46–64 | C > NC | – | C > NC | – |
| > = 65 | C > NC | – | C > NC | – |
| Sex (female) | C = NC | C = NC | C = NC | C = NC |
| Marital status | ||||
| Married or common law | C = NC | – | – | – |
| Widowed, separated, or divorced | C > NC | C = NC | C > NC | – |
| Single | C < NC | C > NC | C < NC | – |
| Married or common law | C = NC | – | – | – |
| Education | C = NC | C < NC | C = NC | |
| < Secondary | C > NC | – | C > NC | - |
| Secondary graduate | C = NC | – | C > NC | C = NC |
| > Secondary | C < NC | – | C = NC | |
| Employment | ||||
| Housewife | – | C = NC | – | – |
| Working fulltime | – | C = NC | – | – |
| Unemployed | C > NC | C = NC | – | C > NC |
| Housewife | – | C = NC | – | – |
| Income | – | C = NC | C < NC | – |
| Disability pension, Social benefits | – | C > NC | – | – |
| Behavioral characteristics | ||||
| Smoking status (current) | – | C = NC | C > NC | – |
C Chronic, NC Non-Chronic, MDE Major Depressive Episode, MDD Major Depressive Disorder, CMDD Chronic Major Depressive Disorder, NCMDD Non-Chronic Major Depressive Disorder, y.o year-old, yrs years, Angst, 2009: Comparison group Episodic (non-chronic) Major Depressive Episode