title: Obesity among outpatients with major depressive disorder.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Depression Clinical and Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA. gpapakostas@partners.org
authors.forename: George I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Papakostas
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Petersen
authors.forename: Dan V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Iosifescu
authors.forename: Alana M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Nierenberg
authors.forename: Jonathan E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Alpert
authors.forename: Jerrold F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rosenbaum
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fava
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D018687:Antidepressive Agents, Second-Generation; D005473:Fluoxetine; D016651:Lithium Carbonate; D003891:Desipramine