Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of MDD patients and healthy controls
| Variables | Group | t/χ2 | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HC | MDD | |||
| Sample size, n | 40 | 27 | – | – |
| Age, years (mean ± SD) | 31.43 ± 7.80 | 32.96 ± 8.84 | −0.75 | 0.46* |
| Gender, n (male/female) | 21/19 | 10/17 | 1.55 | 0.21† |
| Handedness, n (right/left) | 40/0 | 27/0 | – | – |
| Number of previous episodes (mean ± SD) | – | 1.63 ± 1.08 | – | – |
| Duration of illness, months (mean ± SD) | – | 4.26 ± 3.51 | – | – |
| Score of 17-item HAMD (mean ± SD) | – | 26.22 ± 4.54 | – | – |
*The P value was obtained by two-sample two-tailed t-test; †The P value was obtained by Pearson Chi-square test. The P value more than 0.05 indicated no statistically significant difference between the two groups. HC: Healthy controls; MDD: Major depressive disorder patients; HAMD: Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; SD: Standard deviation.