Kessing Lars Vedel
Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Br J Psychiatry. 2008 Apr;192(4):290-3. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.038935.
It is not clear whether the severity of depressive episodes changes during the course of depressive disorder.
To investigate whether the severity of depressive episodes increases during the course of illness.
Using a Danish nationwide case register, all psychiatric in-patients and out-patients with a main ICD-10 diagnosis of a single mild, moderate or severe depressive episode at the end of first contact were identified. Patients included in the study were from the period 1994-2003.
A total of 19 392 patients received a diagnosis of a single depressive episode at first contact. The prevalence of severe depressive episodes increased from 25.5% at the first episode to 50.0% at the 15th episode and the prevalence of psychotic episodes increased from 8.7% at the first episode to 25.0% at the 15th episode. The same pattern was found regardless of gender, age at first contact and calendar year.
The increasing severity of depressive episodes emphasises the importance of early and sustained prophylactic treatment.
目前尚不清楚抑郁发作的严重程度在抑郁症病程中是否会发生变化。
调查抑郁发作的严重程度在疾病过程中是否会增加。
利用丹麦全国病例登记册，确定了所有在首次接触结束时主要国际疾病分类第10版（ICD - 10）诊断为单次轻度、中度或重度抑郁发作的精神科住院患者和门诊患者。纳入研究的患者来自1994年至2003年期间。
共有19392名患者在首次接触时被诊断为单次抑郁发作。重度抑郁发作的患病率从首次发作时的25.5%增至第15次发作时的50.0%，精神病性发作的患病率从首次发作时的8.7%增至第15次发作时的25.0%。无论性别、首次接触时的年龄和日历年如何，均发现相同的模式。
抑郁发作严重程度的增加凸显了早期和持续预防性治疗的重要性。
