Sex differences in residual somatic symptoms in patients with first-episode depression after acute-phase treatment 2023 Shi et al

Background
Residual somatic symptoms (RSS) are common in depressed patients, predicting treatment effectiveness. However, sex differences in RSS have received little systematic study. This study was conducted to compare sex differences of RSS in patients with first-episode depression (FED).

Methods
Nine hundred eighty-two patients with FED were selected and treated for 8 to 12 weeks. We evaluated the subjects' socio-demographic characteristics and residual depressive symptoms. Using the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15) scale to assess residual somatic symptoms, the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) for the assessment of patients' function, the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire-Short Form (Q-LES-Q-SF) for quality of life.

Results
The incidence of RSS with FED was 46.4%. For patients with residual symptoms, the age and age of onset in females were higher than males, but males had more years of education than females. The degree of "stomach pain" in females was more severe than in males, while "trouble sleeping" in males was more severe than that in females. Multiple regression analysis showed that the total Q-LES-Q-SF score was an independent influencing factor of RSS in both males and females, while the total SDS score only affected female RSS.

Conclusions
The prevalence of RSS in FED after acute-phase treatment is high. The symptom of "stomachache" is more pronounced in females, while "trouble sleeping" is more severe in males. Quality of life plays an essential role in RSS in both genders. Thus, sex needs to be considered when assessing the relationship between RSS and therapeutic effect in depression.

Open access, https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-04612-3

 

Source: a donkey? Or its other common name? This is very random and lacking any evidence. Depression is very poorly defined and heterogenous. Far more than ME. More even than fibromyalgia. And deciding that symptoms are part of depression is also arbitrary. Medicine can't even tell "depression" apart from illness. By their own admission. So asking sick people about symptoms will tell you about their illness, not some psychomumbojumbo definition about psychosocial this and that.

This is invalid research. Not even fishing, this is scooping out a bucket from a barrel of fish. And another random acronym that means the same thing as all the other acronyms. This discipline is a joke. It's not the best they do that defines professionals, it's the worst. And the worst that they do is far worse than even what amateurs would do.