title: Thirty-month naturalistic follow-up study of early-onset dysthymic disorder: course, diagnostic stability, and prediction of outcome.
abstract: Dysthymic disorder (DD) is defined and distinguished from major depressive disorder (MDD) largely on the basis of its course. Surprisingly, however, there have been few prospective, longitudinal studies of the naturalistic course of DD. This article reports the major findings from a prospective, longitudinal 30-month follow-up study of 86 outpatients with early-onset DD (EOD) and 39 outpatients with episodic MDD. Follow-up assessments included the Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluation and Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. Compared with patients with episodic MDD, patients with EOD exhibited less improvement from the baseline evaluation and were more symptomatic at follow-up. Only 39% of patients with EOD recovered from DD during the follow-up period. The diagnosis of DD was fairly stable, with 52% of the EOD group meeting full criteria for DD at follow-up. These data provide prospective confirmation of the chronic course of DD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-2500, USA. dklein@ccvm.sunysb.edu
authors.forename: D N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Norden
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ferro
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Leader
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Kasch
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Aronson
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D015897:Comorbidity; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D019263:Dysthymic Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales