TY - JOUR
T1 - Impairment in major depression
T2 - Implications for diagnosis
AU - Mojtabai, Ramin
N1 - Funding Information:
The National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) is funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (Grants No. R01 MWDA46376 and R01 MH49098), the National Institute of Drug Abuse (through a supplement to R01 MWDA46376), and the W.T. Grant Foundation (Grant No. 90135190). Ronald Kessler is the Principal Investigator of the NCS. Collaborating NCS sites and investigators are: Addiction Research Foundation (Robin Room); Duke University Medical Center (Dan Blazer, Marvin Swartz); Harvard Medical School (Richard Frank, Ronald Kessler); Johns Hopkins University (James Anthony, William Eaten, Philip Leaf); Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry Clinical Institute (Hans-Ulrich Wittchen); Medical College of Virginia (Kenneth Kendler); University of Miami (R. Jay Turner); University of Michigan (Lloyd Johnston, Roderick Little); New York University (Patrick Shrout); State University of New York at Stony Brook (Evelyn Bromet); and Washington University School of Medicine (Linda Cottler, Andrew Heath). The author’s work was supported in part by Research Scientist Career Development Award No. K01-MH01754 and a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression.
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - A significant change in the criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV over the earlier editions was the introduction of a criterion of "clinically significant distress and impairment" (criterion C). However, it is not clear that cases of depression which meet this criterion are distinct from cases that do not meet the criterion on characteristics beyond mere severity of illness. This report used data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) to compare the psychiatric and sociodemographic characteristics of cases of DSM-III-R major depression with varying levels of self-rated impairment. The results of the analyses revealed no difference between respondents with different levels of impairment on gender, age of onset, parental history of depression and suicide, duration of illness, and symptom profiles. With regard to the social and psychiatric indicators of severity of illness, on the other hand, there was a gradient for worse outcome among more severely impaired respondents. It is concluded that the less impaired respondents with DSM-III-R major depression cannot be distinguished from the more impaired on illness characteristics that are not related to the severity of illness. Therefore, cases of DSM-III-R major depression with various levels of impairment most probably represent cases of the same illness that vary only in severity.
AB - A significant change in the criteria for major depressive disorder in the DSM-IV over the earlier editions was the introduction of a criterion of "clinically significant distress and impairment" (criterion C). However, it is not clear that cases of depression which meet this criterion are distinct from cases that do not meet the criterion on characteristics beyond mere severity of illness. This report used data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) to compare the psychiatric and sociodemographic characteristics of cases of DSM-III-R major depression with varying levels of self-rated impairment. The results of the analyses revealed no difference between respondents with different levels of impairment on gender, age of onset, parental history of depression and suicide, duration of illness, and symptom profiles. With regard to the social and psychiatric indicators of severity of illness, on the other hand, there was a gradient for worse outcome among more severely impaired respondents. It is concluded that the less impaired respondents with DSM-III-R major depression cannot be distinguished from the more impaired on illness characteristics that are not related to the severity of illness. Therefore, cases of DSM-III-R major depression with various levels of impairment most probably represent cases of the same illness that vary only in severity.
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U2 - 10.1053/comp.2001.23142
DO - 10.1053/comp.2001.23142
M3 - Article
C2 - 11349239
AN - SCOPUS:0035011367
SN - 0010-440X
VL - 42
SP - 206
EP - 212
JO - Comprehensive Psychiatry
JF - Comprehensive Psychiatry
IS - 3
ER -