Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology
Original Article

Prevalence and clinical characteristics of major depressive disorder (MDD) without depressed mood in Koreans with MDD: results from the CRESCEND study

1.

Department of Psychiatry, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, Busan, Republic of Korea

2.

Department of Psychiatry, Yong-In Mental Hospital, Yongin, Republic of Korea

3.

Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University School of Medicine, Gwangju, Republic of Korea

4.

Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

5.

Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

6.

Department of Psychiatry, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Republic of Korea

7.

Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Republic of Korea

8.

Department of Psychiatry, Hanyang University Guri Hospital, Guri, Republic of Korea

Psychiatry and Clinical Psychopharmacology 2017; 27: 435-438
DOI: 10.1080/24750573.2017.1367564
Read: 920 Downloads: 598 Published: 11 February 2021

Objective: We examined the prevalence and clinical characteristics of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) without depressed mood, using data from the Clinical Research Center for Depression (CRESCEND) study in South Korea.

Methods: Using analysis of covariance for continuous variables and binary logistic regression analysis for discrete variables, the clinical characteristics of MDD patients with and without depressed mood were compared after controlling for the potential effects of gender. To represent the extent of group differences, we computed Cohen’s d statistics.

Results: Of 1009 MDD patients, only 2.2% were without depressed mood. Compared with those with depressed mood, these patients were characterized by a significantly lower rate of current suicidal ideation (adjust odds ratio = 5.258, p = .003; d = 0.193), fewer depressive symptom profiles (F = 8.731, p = .003; d = −0.543) and lower severity scores for overall depression (F = 16.027, p < .0001; d = −0.853), core depressive symptoms (F = 14.233, p < .0001; d = −0.810), insomnia (F = 6.967, p = .008; d = −0.579), anxiety (F = 14.235, p < .0001; d = −0.810), and suicidal ideation (F = 9.034, p = .003; d = 0.531), as well as a higher level of social functioning (F = 6.862, p = .009; d = 0.531).

Conclusions: MDD without depressed mood is associated with a lower illness burden than MDD with depressed mood, and may have the distinctive clinical characteristics of MDD.

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