title: Gender Differences in Depressive Symptom Profile: Results from Nationwide General Population Surveys in Korea.
abstract: This study investigated gender differences in symptom profiles of major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Korean general population. Data were pooled from the series of nationwide Korean Epidemiologic Catchment Area surveys conducted in 2001, 2006 and 2011, respectively. Of the 18,807 participants, 507 (397 women and 110 men) were diagnosed with MDD within the prior 12 months. In agreement with previous studies, women with MDD appeared to be more vulnerable to experiencing atypical depressive episodes defined as depression with two or more symptoms of fatigue, increased appetite and hypersomnia (P < 0.001). In terms of individual symptoms, female gender was significantly related with higher prevalence of fatigue (P = 0.008), hypersomnia (P = 0.001), noticeable psychomotor retardation (P = 0.029) and suicidal attempts (P = 0.016) with adjustment for birth cohort effect, partner status, and employment status. In the same analysis, men with MDD appeared more vulnerable to decreased libido than women (P = 0.009). This is the first report to demonstrate gender differences in symptomatology of MDD in the general Korean population, and the results are comparable to previous investigations from western societies. Assumingly, the intercultural similarity in female preponderance to atypical depression might reflect the common biological construct underlying the gender difference in mechanism of MDD. In clinical settings, gender differences of MDD should be carefully considered, because these features could be related with treatment response and drug side effects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Maeng Je
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin Pyo
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jae Nam
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Gachon Medical School, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong-Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Bong-Jin
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Hahm
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Sanggye Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong-Woo
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Ik
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. ; Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul Metropolitan Boramae Medical Center, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jun-Young
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Depression Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. ; Samsung Advanced Institute for Health Science & Technology (SAIHST), Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea.
authors.forename: Sung Man
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005221:Fatigue / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012737:Sex Factors; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Depressive Disorder, Major; Sex; Symptoms; Women, Korea