Department of Psychology, MRC Centre for Neurodegeneration Research, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
Eur J Neurol. 2010 Aug;17(8):1047-53. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2010.02960.x. Epub 2010 Feb 11.
Research suggests the prevalence of severe depression in ALS is <20%. In contrast, studies have reported that severe depression affects 40-50% of patients with other neurodegenerative motor conditions (e.g. multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease). The comparison with such disorders has generated a clinical impression that patients with ALS have surprisingly low rates of depression. However, comparisons with such disorders do not take into account the markedly different pathological, physical and behavioural profiles associated with these disorders. To assess further the extent to which ALS is associated with a low prevalence of depression, we compared the prevalence of depression in patients with ALS to that in patients with neuromuscular disorders with more comparable disease profiles.
The Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), the Major Depression Inventory (MDI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised were sent to 212 patients from a tertiary referral Motor Nerve Clinic in London, UK.
Data were obtained from 51 people with ALS and 39 with other neuromuscular disorders. The non-ALS group included patients diagnosed with disorders that are characterized by motor neurone dysfunction and/or a decline in everyday function. Analyses revealed no between-group differences on severity and prevalence rates of depression according to the BDI-II, HADS Depression Subscale and MDI.
Our findings do not support the impression that patients with ALS have lower rates of depression than patients with other varied neuromuscular disorders.
研究表明，ALS 患者中严重抑郁症的患病率<20%。相比之下，有研究报道称，40-50%的其他神经退行性运动疾病（如多发性硬化症、帕金森病和亨廷顿病）患者患有严重抑郁症。与这些疾病的比较产生了一种临床印象，即 ALS 患者的抑郁症发病率出奇地低。然而，与这些疾病的比较并未考虑到与这些疾病相关的明显不同的病理、生理和行为特征。为了进一步评估 ALS 与低抑郁症患病率之间的关联程度，我们将 ALS 患者的抑郁症患病率与具有更相似疾病特征的神经肌肉疾病患者的患病率进行了比较。
英国伦敦一家三级转诊运动神经诊所的 212 名患者收到了贝克抑郁量表第二版（BDI-II）、主要抑郁量表（MDI）、医院焦虑和抑郁量表（HADS）和 ALS 功能评定量表修订版。
从 51 名 ALS 患者和 39 名其他神经肌肉疾病患者中获得了数据。非 ALS 组包括被诊断为运动神经元功能障碍和/或日常功能下降的疾病患者。分析显示，BDI-II、HADS 抑郁分量表和 MDI 均未显示出两组间在抑郁严重程度和患病率方面的差异。
我们的研究结果不支持 ALS 患者的抑郁症发病率低于其他各种神经肌肉疾病患者的印象。
