Table 1.
Descriptive Characteristics of included MS PATHS participants by categories of depressive symptoms
| None | Mild | Moderate | Severe | P-value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 8817 (63.7) | 2487 (18.0) | 1672 (12.1) | 845 (6.1) | |
|
| |||||
| NeuroQoL depression T-scores, mean (SD) | 42.14 (5.09) | 51.44 (1.10) | 56.14 (1.62) | 63.47 (3.35) | <0.001 |
| Use of antidepressant, n (%) | 2131 (24.2) | 908 (36.5) | 725 (43.4) | 462 (54.7) | <0.001 |
| Age, mean (SD), years | 48.91 (12.47) | 49.60 (12.12) | 48.90 (12.23) | 46.17 (11.90) | <0.001 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 2406 (27.3) | 613 (24.6) | 414 (24.8) | 220 (26.0) | 0.02 |
| Race, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| White or Caucasian | 7121 (80.8) | 1952 (78.5) | 1246 (74.5) | 596 (70.5) | |
| Black or African American | 695 (7.9) | 210 (8.4) | 166 (9.9) | 126 (14.9) | |
| Other | 483 (5.5) | 154 (6.2) | 145 (8.7) | 73 (8.6) | |
| Unknown | 518 (5.9) | 171 (6.9) | 115 (6.9) | 50 (5.9) | |
| Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, n (%) | 303 (3.4) | 85 (3.4) | 88 (5.3) | 50 (5.9) | <0.001 |
| Years of education, mean (SD) | 14.67 (3.07) | 13.99 (3.06) | 13.59 (3.08) | 13.29 (3.16) | <0.001 |
| Insurance status, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Private, state | 7252 (82.3) | 1838 (73.9) | 1128 (67.5) | 474 (56.1) | |
| Medicare | 1077 (12.2) | 408 (16.4) | 329 (19.7) | 188 (22.2) | |
| Medicaid or none | 429 (4.9) | 220 (8.8) | 195 (11.7) | 179 (21.2) | |
| Unknown | 59 (0.7) | 21 (0.8) | 20 (1.2) | 4 (0.5) | |
| Current smoker, n (%) | 1047 (11.9) | 412 (16.6) | 364 (21.8) | 208 (24.6) | <0.001 |
| Employment status, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Full time/student | 5372 (61.2) | 1099 (44.5) | 596 (35.9) | 224 (26.5) | |
| Part time | 926 (10.6) | 250 (10.1) | 180 (10.8) | 76 (9.0) | |
| Retired | 959 (10.9) | 336 (13.6) | 187 (11.3) | 61 (7.2) | |
| Disabled | 1106 (12.6) | 593 (24.0) | 504 (30.3) | 346 (41.0) | |
| Unemployed | 267 (3.0) | 134 (5.4) | 149 (9.0) | 113 (13.4) | |
| Other | 147 (1.7) | 58 (2.3) | 46 (2.8) | 24 (2.8) | |
| Body mass index, mean (SD), kg/m2 | 28.49 (6.72) | 29.35 (7.33) | 29.30 (7.40) | 30.02 (7.70) | <0.001 |
| MS subtype, n (%) | |||||
| Relapsing-remitting / CIS | 5983 (67.9) | 1413 (56.8) | 834 (49.9) | 359 (42.5) | <0.001 |
| Progressive | 2015 (22.9) | 833 (33.5) | 681 (40.7) | 419 (49.6) | |
| Unknown | 819 (9.3) | 241 (9.7) | 157 (9.4) | 67 (7.9) | |
| Age at symptom onset, mean (SD) | 32.68 (11.03) | 32.73 (11.69) | 31.73 (11.67) | 30.24 (11.09) | <0.001 |
| Disease duration, mean (SD) | 14.24 (10.88) | 14.92 (11.13) | 15.09 (11.08) | 14.04 (10.62) | 0.003 |
| Disease modifying therapy, n (%) | <0.001 | ||||
| Injectable | 2031 (23.0) | 519 (20.9) | 284 (17.0) | 134 (15.9) | |
| Oral | 2519 (28.6) | 665 (26.7) | 431 (25.8) | 197 (23.3) | |
| Infusion | 1589 (18.0) | 481 (19.3) | 345 (20.6) | 209 (24.7) | |
| None | 1756 (19.9) | 523 (21.0) | 417 (24.9) | 202 (23.9) | |
| Other | 517 (5.9) | 178 (7.2) | 116 (6.9) | 70 (8.3) | |
*
P-values are derived from a t-tests or Chi-square tests for a given variable and depressive symptom severity.