Table 1. Comparison of demographic and clinical characteristics between patients with TRD and healthy controls.
| Variables | Patients with TRD (n = 30) | Healthy controls (n = 30) | Statistics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | χ2 | df | P | |
| Male | 14 | 46.7 | 13 | 43.3 | 0.07 | 1 | 0.795 |
| Employed | 24 | 80.0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Married | 20 | 66.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Antidepressant response after the last ECTa | 30 | 100.0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Antidepressant remission after the last ECTb | 23 | 76.7 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | t | df | P | |
| Age (years) | 32.1 | 9.9 | 30.8 | 8.2 | 0.58 | 58 | 0.561 |
| Baseline serum BDNF levels (ng/ml) | 23.7 | 8.9 | 24.2 | 6.1 | −0.24 | 58 | 0.810 |
Notes:
a
Antidepressant response was defined as a 50% or greater reduction in HAMD-17 scores.
b
Antidepressant remission was defined as HAMD-17 scores ≤6 as recommended by Riedel et al.’s study.
Abbreviations: BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; df, degrees of freedom; ECT, electroconvulsive therapy; SD, standard deviation; TRD, treatment-refractory depression.