Gender differences in the symptoms of major depression and in the level of social functioning in public primary care patients

Figures & data

Table I. Characteristics of participants by gender

	All participants (n = 432–36)*
Background characte	men (n = 133–134)*,%	women (n = 299–302)*,%	p †
Age, years			0.195
18–29	11.2	16.9
30–39	19.4	18.2
40–49	20.9	25.5
50–64	48.5	39.4
Marital status			0.442
Married	66.4	62.6
Other	33.6	37.4
Basic education			0.108
≤9 years	88.0	81.8
>9 years	12.0	18.2
Professional training‡			0.481
Lower education	75.2	78.3
Higher education	24.8	21.7
Income level in childhood home			0.234
High or average	70.1	75.6
Low	29.9	24.4
Perceived health§			0.019
Good	25.4	35.5
Average	40.3	41.9
Poor	34.3	22.6
Depression according to PSE			0.319
Depression	23.9	28.5
No depression	76.1	71.5

*Because of missing information on background characteristics, the number of patients varies.

†Chi-square test; distributions were compared between the genders.

‡Lower education: vocational school at most; higher education: at least college/higher professional institutes.

§Good: good or fairly good health; poor: fairly poor or poor health.

Table II. Descriptive statistics for DEPS (Depression Scale) sum score, level of social functioning score by gender, and clinical depression according to PSE (Present State Examination)

	Depression as measured by PSE
	Depression			No depression
Psychometric instrument	men	women	p*	Men	women	p*
DEPS	n = 127	n = 283	0.017	10 (0–28)	9 (0–25)	0.149
median (minimum-maximum)	17 (9–26)	14 (0–26)		9.7 (5.5)	8.8 (4.9)
mean (standard deviation)	16.6 (4.6)	14.2 (4.9)
Level of social functioning†	n = 133	n = 295	0.007	3 (1–7)	2 (1–5)	0.010
median (minimum-maximum)	4 (2–7)	3 (2–6)		2.8 (1.0)	2.5 (0.7)
mean (standard deviation)	4.0 (1.2)	3.4 (0.8)

* Mann–Whitney U test; medians were compared between genders.

†By the DSM-III-R.

Table III. Percentages of positive DEPS (Depression Scale) items by gender, and clinical depression according to PSE (Present State Examination)

	Depression (n = 113–118)*			No depression (n = 310–315)*
	men	women		men	women
Positive DEPS item result	(n = 30–32)*,%^†	(n = 83–86)*,%^†	p ‡	(n = 99–102)*,%†	(n = 209–214)*,%†	p ‡
During the last month I have:
1) suffered from insomnia	43.8	35.7	0.425	25.5	12.3	0.003
2) felt blue	62.5	56.5	0.556	15.0	28.6	0.009
3) felt everything was an effort	81.3	48.2	0.001	35.0	33.2	0.750
4) felt low energy or slowed down	58.1	52.4	0.587	33.3	31.5	0.738
5) felt lonely	45.2	36.9	0.421	18.2	10.7	0.070
6) felt hopeless about the future	53.1	40.0	0.202	28.3	19.6	0.087
7) not got any fun out of life	46.7	34.9	0.257	22.8	23.0	0.970
8) had feelings of worthlessness	54.8	33.3	0.036	26.0	9.3	<0.001
9) felt all pleasure and joy has gone from life	50.0	41.2	0.391	16.8	12.6	0.314
10) felt that I cannot shake off the blues even with the help of family and friends	43.8	39.5	0.679	15.0	15.4	0.923

* Because of incomplete DEPS scores the number of patients varies.

†Percentage of those with positive DEPS item results (2–3 points/item).

‡Chi-square test compared between genders.