title: Differential impact of risk factors for women and men on the risk of major depressive disorder.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our aim is to examine which risk factors have a greater impact in women than in men on the risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether factors differ between a possible recurrent MDD and a first onset of MDD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective cohort study of general practice attendees in seven countries, who were followed up at 6 and 12 months (predictD). Absolute risk differences (interaction contrast) across sex for onset of DSM-IV MDD after 6 or 12 months of follow-up were estimated for 35 risk factors from 7101 participants without MDD at baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 599 participants (80% female) had an onset of MDD at 6 or 12 months. Most risk factors had a greater impact in women than in men on the risk of MDD and were not restricted to a specific class of risk factors. After we stratified for a history of depressive symptoms, we found that the impact of risk factors across sex was generally stronger on possible recurrent MDD than on a first onset of MDD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings may partly account for the observed difference in incidence of MDD between men and women.
authors.affiliation: Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Bauke T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Stegenga
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Diederick E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Grobbee
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Torres-González
authors.forename: Igor
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Švab
authors.forename: Heidi-Ingrid
authors.initials: HI
authors.lastname: Maaroos
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xavier
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saldivia
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bottomley
authors.forename: Irwin
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Nazareth
authors.forename: Mirjam I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Geerlings
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D055815:Young Adult