Obesity among outpatients with major depressive disorder.
Studies focusing on the prevalence of obesity in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), or the impact of excess body fat on the treatment of MDD are lacking. The aim of the present work is to systematically study obesity in MDD outpatients. A total of 369 MDD outpatients enrolled in an 8-wk trial of 20 mg fluoxetine had height and weight measured at baseline. We then examined: (1) the prevalence of being overweight or obese, (2) the relationship between obesity and a number of demographic and clinical variables, and, (3) the relationship between relative body weight and obesity with clinical response. We found that more than 50% of patients were overweight [body mass index (BMI) > or =2 5 kg/m2], while 20% were obese (BMI > or = 30 kg/m2). Obese patients presented with worse somatic well-being scores than non-obese MDD patients, but they did not differ with respect to depression severity, anxiety, somatic complaints, hopelessness or hostility. Greater relative body weight, but not obesity, predicted non-response. In conclusion, greater relative body weight was found to place MDD outpatients at risk for fluoxetine resistance.
Papakostas
George I
GI
Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. gpapakostas@partners.org
Petersen
Timothy
T
Iosifescu
Dan V
DV
Burns
Alana M
AM
Nierenberg
Andrew A
AA
Alpert
Jonathan E
JE
Rosenbaum
Jerrold F
JF
Fava
Maurizio
M
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003891:Desipramine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D016651:Lithium Carbonate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D005473:Fluoxetine; D016651:Lithium Carbonate; D003891:Desipramine