Callegari Camilla, Buttarelli M, Cromi Antonella, Diurni M, Salvaggio F, Bolis P F
Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy.
Maturitas. 2007 Apr 20;56(4):447-51. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2006.08.001. Epub 2006 Sep 11.
To evaluate the psychopathological profile and the incidence of major depressive disorders in consecutive women attending a Menopause Clinic.
Women attending outpatient menopause clinic at Filippo del Ponte Hospital in Varese (Italy), referring to the centre from 1 March to 30 April 2005, were invited to fill up a specific questionnaire while waiting for the visit. The questionnaire included demographics and history (e.g. current or past use of antidepressant drugs); symptoms check list (SCL-90-R); Beck depression inventory (BDI).
Sixty-four women were enrolled to the study. On the SCL-90-R, "somatic" symptoms cluster was the most frequent. Patients diagnosed as depressed using the Beck depression inventory (BDI) were 18 (28.1%). Thirteen (70%) of currently depressed women presented a positive history of depressive disorders. The analysis of depressed women according to previous depressive disorders revealed higher scores for women with positive history in both scales. Depressed patients have a significantly lower mean age compared to non-depressed patients (53.3+/-6.2 years versus 57.33+/-4.9 years, p=0.023).
Our preliminary data show a high correlation between a history of depressive disorder and recurrence of depression in the menopausal period. Perimenopause seems to be a higher risk period for the development of a depressive disease compared to menopausal status. The somatization cluster warrants further investigation.
