title: The relationship between somatic symptoms and depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We investigated the influence of somatic symptoms on the severity and clinical outcomes in female Korean patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in routine practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred and seven female patients with MDD were prospectively recruited. Patients with somatic symptoms (PSS) was defined as a total score ≥ 10 on the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), others were classified as non PSS (NPSS). The PHQ-9 for de-pression, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7) for anxiety, the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) for clinical status, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for health status were utilised.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 207 participants, 126 (60.9%) were PSS and 81 (39.1%) were classified as NPSS. The proportion of patients showing severe symptoms (65.1% vs. 24.7%) and recurrence of depression (74.6% vs. 49.4%), the CGI-S (4.6 vs. 4.1), the PHQ-9 (16.8 vs. 11.1), and the GAD-7 (8.3 vs 6.7) scores were significantly higher in PSS than in NPSS, while the VAS (39.4 vs. 51.2) was significantly lower in PSS than in NPSS. The improvement of depressive symptoms (-1.3 vs. -2.0) measured by the changes in CGI-S was also significantly less in PSS than in NPSS after 6 months treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings have shown the significant impact of somatic symptoms on the symptomatology as well as treatment outcomes in Korean female patients with MDD, indicating that clinicians should carefully evaluate somatic symptoms in patients with MDD in routine clinical practice. Due to the methodological shortcomings of the present study, further adequately powered and well-designed investigations are necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Hyeseung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Sheng-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Changsu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Soo-Jung
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Chi-Un
authors.initials: CU
authors.lastname: Pae
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires