title: Chinese patients with major depression: Do concomitant pain symptoms affect quality of life independently of severity of depression?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigated whether painful physical symptoms (PPSs) influenced quality of life (QoL) when adjusting for severity of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Severity of depression, QoL and PPSs were assessed at baseline and 3 months among the Chinese cohort (n = 300) of a 3-month observational study of major depressive disorder (MDD) in East Asia. The presence of PPS was defined as 'a mean score of ≥2 on the Somatic Symptom Inventory pain-related items'. Regression analyses determined predictors of QoL at 3 months, adjusting for age, sex, depressive symptoms, overall severity and QoL at baseline.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PPSs were present (PPS+) at baseline in 35.3% of patients. Over 3 months, in the whole sample, EuroQoL visual analogue scale (EQ-VAS) score improved from 45.5 (standard deviation [SD]: 20.9) to 81 (SD: 16.7), and EuroQoL 5-Dimension Questionnaire (EQ-5D) score improved from 0.52 (SD: 0.31) to 0.89 (0.16). At 3 months, mean EQ-VAS was 75.9 (SD: 17.7) for PPS+ versus 83.7 (SD: 15.6) for PPS-, and mean EQ-5D was 0.83 (SD: 0.17) versus 0.92 (SD: 0.14). PPS+ at baseline was a significant predictor of QoL at 3 months after adjusting for socio-demographic and baseline clinical variables.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PPSs were associated with less improvement in QoL in patients receiving treatment for MDD, independent of severity of depression.
authors.affiliation: a Eli Lilly and Company , Windlesham, Surrey , UK.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Novick
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Montgomery
authors.forename: Maria Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Moneta
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brugnoli
authors.forename: Josep Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haro
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Chinese; Pain; course; depression; quality of life; treatment