Association between Painful Physical Symptoms and Clinical Outcomes in Korean Patients with Major Depressive Disorder:A Three-Month Observational Study

Objective This paper aims to examine the association between painful physical symptoms (ITS) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in a naturalistic clinical practice setting within a Korean population. Methods Patients with acute MDD that joined a multicountry, observational, three-month Study in six Asian countries and regions ere classified as PPS+ (mean score >= 2) and PPS- (mean score <2) using the modified Somatic Symptom Inventory. In this analysis, we report, the results from the Korea,, subset, where depression severity was assessed using the Clinical Global Impression of Severity (CGI-S) scale and 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD(17)) Pain severity was measured using a Visual analogue scale (VAS), while the EuroQoL (EQ-5D) assessed patient well-being. Results Of 198 patients, 45.96% (91/198) of patients were classified as PPS+ of which, 78.02% (71/91) were women. PPS+ patients had significantly more severe depression at baseline {CGI-S score, mean [standard deviation (SD)], PPS+: 5.09 [0.79]; PPS-: 4.63 [0.76]; p<0.001; HAMD(17) total score, mean [SD], PPS+: 24.34 [5.24]; PPS-: 20.76 [5.12]; p<0.001} and poorer quality of life [EQ-5D overall health state, mean (SD), PPS+: 39.37 (20.52); PPS-: 51.27 [20.78]; p<0.001] than PPS- patients. Both groups improved significantly (p<0.001) in depression and pain severity outcomes, as well as quality of life by end-point, but 110 significant within-group baseline-to-endpoint change wase observed. Conclusion The frequency of PPS was common in Korean patients with MDD and was, associated with more severe depression, poorer quality of life, and a trend towards poorer clinical outcome. Psychiatry Invest 2009;6:255-263