Clinical characteristics and sociodemographic features of psychotic major depression

Background Psychotic major depression (PMD) is a subtype of depression with a poor prognosis. Previous studies have failed to find many differences between patients with PMD and those with non-psychotic major depression (NMD) or schizophrenia (SZ). We compared sociodemographic factors (including season of conception) and clinical characteristics between patients with PMD, NMD, and schizophrenia. Our aim was to provide data to help inform clinical diagnoses and future etiology research. Methods This study used data of all patients admitted to Shandong Mental Health Center from June 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017. We analyzed cases who had experienced an episode of PMD (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes F32.3, F33.3), NMD (F32.0–2/9, F33.0–2/9), and SZ (F20–20.9). Data on sex, main discharge diagnosis, date of birth, ethnicity, family history of psychiatric diseases, marital status, age at first onset, education, allergy history, and presence of trigger events were collected. Odds ratios (OR) were calculated using logistic regression analyses. Missing values were filled using the k-nearest neighbor method. Results PMD patients were more likely to have a family history of psychiatric diseases in their first-, second-, and third-degree relatives ([OR] 1.701, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.019–2.804) and to have obtained a higher level of education (OR 1.451, 95% CI 1.168–1.808) compared with depression patients without psychotic features. Compared to PMD patients, schizophrenia patients had lower education (OR 0.604, 95% CI 0.492–0.741), were more often divorced (OR 3.087, 95% CI 1.168–10.096), had a younger age of onset (OR 0.934, 95% CI 0.914–0.954), less likely to have a history of allergies (OR 0.604, 95% CI 0.492–0.741), and less likely to have experienced a trigger event 1 year before first onset (OR 0.420, 95% CI 0.267–0.661). Season of conception, ethnicity, and sex did not differ significantly between PMD and NMD or schizophrenia and PMD. Conclusions PMD patients have more similarities with NMD patients than SZ patients in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics. The differences found between PMD and SZ, and PMD and NMD correlated with specificity of the diseases. Furthermore, allergy history should be considered in future epidemiological studies of psychotic disorders.

Clinical characteristics and socio-demographic features of psychotic major depression

Background Psychotic major depression (PMD) is a special subtype of depression with a worse prognosis. Previous studies failed to find many differences among patients with PMD versus those with non-psychotic major depression (NMD) or schizophrenia(SZ). This study compared psychotic major depression with non-psychotic major depression and schizophrenia based on sociodemographic factors (including season of conception) and clinical characteristics. We aimed to provide data to inform clinical diagnoses and etiology research. Methods This case–control study used data for patients admitted to Shandong Mental Health Center from June 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017. We analyzed cases that had experienced a PMD episode (International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes F32.3, F33.3), NMD (F32.0–2/9, F33.0–2/9), and SZ (F20–20.9). Data were collected on sex, main discharge diagnosis, birth date, ethnicity, family history of psychiatric diagnoses, marital status, age at first onset, educational attainment, allergy history, and existence of trigger events. Results Patients with depression with a primary school/below education (odds ratio [OR] 0.397, CI: 0.18–0.874) and without a family history (OR 0.557, CI: 0.332–0.937) were less likely to have psychotic symptoms than other patients. Compared with patients with PMD, a primary school/below education (OR 3.646, CI: 1.65–8.053), no allergy history (OR 2.2, CI: 1.152–4.2), trigger events experienced before first onset (OR 2.428, CI: 1.528–3.859), being unmarried (OR 0.3, CI: 0.104–0.871), and an earlier age at first onset (OR 0.931, CI: 0.911–0.952) were features of SZ. Conclusion PMD and NMD are similar in terms of patients’ demographic variables and clinical characteristics, whereas there are differences between PMD and SZ. The significant factors we identified may point to underlying heterogeneity of these diseases.

Psychotic major depression: challenges in clinical practice and research

SummaryPsychotic major depression is an under-researched and under-identified disorder. We highlight the major challenges both in clinical practice and in conducting research with people with this disorder. We also suggest which major issues need addressing to move treatment and knowledge of this disorder forward.Declaration of interestM.H. and A.H.Y. both report grants from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).