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Risk factors for onset of multiple or long major depressive episodes versus single and short episodes

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Abstract

Purpose

Major depressive disorder may vary according to number and duration of episodes. It is unclear whether risk factors for onset of multiple or long episodes of depression (MDE) differ from risk factors for the onset of single and short ones.

Methods

Data were used from a cohort study of 5,256 GP attendees without major depressive disorder at baseline, who were followed up three times (predictD). The numbers and duration of MDE were noted and categorized into no episodes, single and short (≤3 months), and multiple or long (>3 months) episodes at follow-up. Log-binomial regression models were used to calculate relative risks between the groups for 18 risk factors examined at baseline.

Results

165 persons (3 %) had a single and short MDE and 328 (6 %) had multiple or long MDE at follow-up. Lower education, anxiety, problems at work and financial strain significantly increased the risk of multiple or long MDE when compared to single and short MDE. Younger people were at reduced risk of multiple or long MDE.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that several risk factors can be identified that may help to predict onset of different types of MDE. These factors are easy to assess and may be used in the prevention of depression.

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Acknowledgments

Michael King had full access to all data in the study and takes responsibility for their integrity and the accuracy of the data analysis. We thank all patients and general practice staff who took part; Dr Carl Walker who assisted with management of the data in London, the European Office at University College London for their administrative assistance at the coordinating centre, Mr Kevin McCarthy the project’s scientific officer in the European Commission, Brussels, for his helpful support and guidance, the UK MRC General Practice Research Framework (MRC GPRF), Ms Louise Letley, from the MRC GPRF, and the Camden and Islington Foundation NHS Trust. The study was funded by European Commission’s Fifth Framework (Grant number PREDICT-QL4-CT2002-00683) and a VIDI grant from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO Project number 917-66-311). Partial support in Europe was the Slovenian Ministry for Research (Grant 4369-1027), the Spanish Ministry of Health (Grant field-initiated studies program references PI041980, PI041771, and PI042450), the Spanish Network of Primary Care Research (redIAPP) (ISCIII-RETIC RD06/0018) and SAMSERAP group. The UK National Health Service Research and Development office provided service support costs in the United Kingdom. The funding sources had no further role in study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, in the writing of the report, and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, Stratenum 6.131, P.O. Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Bauke T. Stegenga & Mirjam I. Geerlings

  2. Departmental Section of Psychiatry and Psychological Medicine, Centro de Investigación Biomedica En Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Francisco Torres-González

  3. Faculdade Ciências Médicas, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal

    Miguel Xavier

  4. Department of Family Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia

    Igor Švab

  5. Department of Psychiatry/EMGO Institute/Neuroscience Campus Amsterdam, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Brenda W. Penninx

  6. Medical Research Council General Practice Research Framework, UCL, London, UK

    Irwin Nazareth

  7. Research Department of Primary Care and Population Health, UCL, London, UK

    Irwin Nazareth

  8. Research Department of Mental Health Sciences, UCL, London, UK

    Michael King

Authors
  1. Bauke T. Stegenga
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  2. Mirjam I. Geerlings
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  3. Francisco Torres-González
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  4. Miguel Xavier
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  5. Igor Švab
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  6. Brenda W. Penninx
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  7. Irwin Nazareth
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  8. Michael King
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Correspondence to Mirjam I. Geerlings.

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Stegenga, B.T., Geerlings, M.I., Torres-González, F. et al. Risk factors for onset of multiple or long major depressive episodes versus single and short episodes. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 48, 1067–1075 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0626-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-012-0626-2

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