Table 2.
Characteristics at final annual study visit for 425 midlife women participating in SWAN Pittsburgh Mental Health Study according to cumulative depression and anxiety disorder status
|
All (N=425) |
Ever lifetime depressive and anxiety disorder (N=97, 22.8%) |
Ever lifetime depressive disorder (N=162, 38.1%) |
Ever lifetime anxiety disorder (N=21, 4.9%) |
Never lifetime depressive or anxiety disorder (N=145, 34.1%) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (mean, SD) | 51.3 (2.8) | 50.6 (2.7) | 51.4 (2.6) | 50.8 (3.4) | 51.6 (3.0) |
| Number of SCID assessments/annual visits (mean, SD) | 6.5 (1.3) | 6.5 (1.2) | 6.5 (1.2) | 5.9 (1.9) | 6.5 (1.3) |
| Menopause status, N (%) | |||||
| Premenopausal | 22 (5.2) | 6 (6.2) | 6 (3.7) | 1 (4.8) | 9 (6.2) |
| Early perimenopausal | 129 (30.4) | 33 (34.0) | 52 (32.1) | 6 (28.6) | 38 (26.2) |
| Late perimenopausal | 47(11.1) | 10 (10.3) | 15 (9.3) | 3 (14.3) | 19 (13.1) |
| Natural postmenopause | 151(35.5) | 27 (27.8) | 64 (39.5) | 5 (23.8) | 55 (37.9) |
| Surgical postmenopause | 38 (8.9) | 11 (11.3) | 12 (7.4) | 6 (28.6) | 9 (6.2) |
| Cannot determine | 38 (8.9) | 10 (10.3) | 13 (8.0) | 0 | 15 (10.3) |
| Episode of depression and/or anxiety during study, N (%) † | 160 (37.6) | 82 (84.5) | 61 (37.7) | 11 (52.4) | N/A b |
| Lifetime number of episodes of major depression, N (%) € | |||||
| One | 71 (27.4) | 19 (19.6) | 52 (32.1) | ||
| Two or more | 121 (46.7) | 58 (59.8) | 63 (38.9) | N/A | N/A |
| Minor depression only | 67 (25.9) | 20 (20.6) | 47 (29.0) | ||
| Mental health treatment during study, N (%) † a | 155 (36.5) | 63 (65.0) | 65 (40.1) | 5 (23.8) | 22 (15.2) |
| Upsetting life event during study, N (%) † | 376 (88.5) | 92 (94.9) | 151 (93.2) | 19 (90.5) | 114 (78.6) |
| Medical illness during study, N (%) ‡ | |||||
| None | 118 (27.8) | 20 (20.6) | 41 (25.3) | 7 (33.3) | 50 (34.5) |
| One | 135 (31.8) | 28 (28.9) | 51 (31.5) | 5 (23.8) | 51 (35.2) |
| Two or more | 172 (40.5) | 49 (50.5) | 70 (43.2) | 9 (42.9) | 44 (30.3) |
| VMS during study, N (%) * | 347 (81.6) | 87 (89.7) | 135 (83.3) | 14 (66.7) | 111 (76.6) |
| Sleep disturbance during study, N (%) ** | 298 (70.1) | 77 (79.4) | 120 (74.1) | 16 (76.2) | 85 (58.6) |
VMS = vasomotor symptoms, defined as report of hot flashes and/or night sweats during the previous 2 weeks.
Sleep disturbance is defined categorically as trouble falling asleep, waking up several times at night, and/or waking up earlier than planned and unable to fall asleep again for ≥3 nights per week during previous 2 weeks
Mental health treatment includes use of psychotropic medications and/or psychotherapy/counseling.
6 women had a single episode of a depressive or anxiety disorder during the 6-year follow-up and no prior history of depression or anxiety episodes before study entry. Because data from visits during an active illness episode were not included in the model, these women contributed data only for visits when they did not have a depression/anxiety episode and they are therefore included in the group that never had a lifetime episode of a depressive or anxiety disorder.
Between-group differences:
p=0.017,
p=0.002,
p<0.0001,
p=0.054,
p=0.005 (depression and anxiety group vs. depression-alone group; data available for the number of discrete episodes of major depressive disorder, but not minor depression or anxiety disorders).