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Persistence of chronic mood disorders: A 2 year follow‐up
Author(s) -
FURUKAWA TOSHIAKI,
AWAJI RIE,
NAKAZATO HITOSHI,
SUMITA YUKIO
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.1995.tb01851.x
Subject(s) - cohort , naturalistic observation , mood , panic disorder , depression (economics) , psychiatry , persistence (discontinuity) , cohort study , panic , psychology , prospective cohort study , bipolar disorder , mood disorders , medicine , chronic depression , longitudinal study , clinical psychology , anxiety , cognition , geotechnical engineering , pathology , engineering , economics , macroeconomics , social psychology
Chronic mood disorder patients who remain frequent and long‐term users of psychiatric facilities constitute a major clinical concern today. A 2 year naturalistic prospective follow‐up study was conducted on a cohort ( n = 40) randomly extracted out of 335 such patients. Longitudinal data involving semi‐structured interviews, observer‐rated scales and self‐report measures were available for 37 patients (93%). While three (8%) remitted completely, the cohort on the average showed no statistically significant change in the severity of depression, social adjustment or global functions during the 2 years under observation. Two baseline features that characterized ameliorated patients were the absence of panic disorder and lower level of education.