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Differences in psychiatric symptoms among A sian patients with depression: A multi‐country cross‐sectional study
Author(s) -
Sulaiman Ahmad H.,
Bautista Dianne,
Liu ChiaYih,
Udomratn Pichet,
Bae Jae Nam,
Fang Yiru,
Chua Hong C.,
Liu ShenIng,
George Tom,
Chan Edwin,
Tianmei Si,
Hong Jin Pyo,
Srisurapat Manit,
Rush A. John
Publication year - 2014
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/pcn.12118
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , confounding , major depressive disorder , marital status , psychiatry , cross sectional study , psychology , major depressive episode , medicine , depressive symptoms , clinical psychology , population , mood , anxiety , environmental health , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Aim The aim of this study was to compare the symptomatic and clinical features of depression among five groups of patients with major depressive disorder ( MDD ) living in C hina, K orea, M alaysia/ S ingapore, T aiwan, and T hailand. Methods Consecutive consenting adults (aged 18–65) who met DSM‐IV criteria for non‐psychotic MDD – based on the M ini I nternational N europsychiatric I nterview – and who were free of psychotropic medication were evaluated in a cross‐sectional study. Depressive symptoms were evaluated using the 10‐item M ontgomery– A sberg D epression R ating S cale ( MADRS ) and the 13‐item depression subscale of the S ymptoms C hecklist 90‐ R evised ( SCL ‐90‐ R ). In addition, the 10‐item SCL ‐90‐ R A nxiety S ubscale was completed. ancova were conducted, adjusting for confounders: age, completion of secondary education, marital status, work status, religion, index episode duration, and depressive severity. For the magnitude of differences, a threshold of 0.10 was taken as theminimum effect size representing clinical significance, and an effect size of 0.25 was considered moderate. Results Four MADRS symptoms differentiated these five groups, the most prominent being ‘lassitude’ and ‘inner tension’. Nine SCL ‐90‐ R depression items also differentiated the groups, as did eight SCL ‐90‐ R A nxiety S ubscale items. The MADRS lassitude item had the largest effect size (0.131). The rest of those statistically significant differences did not exceed 0.10. Conclusion MDD is more similar than different among outpatients in these diverse A sian countries. The between‐country differences, while present and not due to chance, are small enough to enable the use of common clinician and self‐report rating scales in studies involving A sians with MDD from various ethnic backgrounds.