Quality of life and use of health care resources among patients with chronic depression

Figures & data

Figure 1 Comorbidities reported by people with chronic depression.

Abbreviation: COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Figure 2 Self-perception of health status among people with chronic depression and with other chronic conditions.

Table 1 EQ-5D-5L dimensions: percentages and results of chi-square test

Dimension		CD (%)	OCCs (%)	Chi-square value	P-value*
Mobility	I have no problems in walking about	69.9	91.8	864.770	<0.05
	I have slight problems in walking about	12.7	4.3
	I have moderate problems in walking about	10.4	2.6
	I have severe problems in walking about	5.3	1.1
	I am unable to walk about	1.6	0.3
Self-care	I have no problems washing or dressing myself	86.7	97.5	625.620	<0.05
	I have slight problems washing or dressing myself	4.8	1.2
	I have moderate problems washing or dressing myself	5.3	0.5
	I have severe problems washing or dressing myself	1.6	0.3
	I am unable to wash or dress myself	1.7	0.4
Usual activities	I have no problems doing my usual activities	71.4	93.7	1,094,197	<0.05
	I have slight problems doing my usual activities	10.9	3.2
	I have moderate problems doing my usual activities	10.8	1.9
	I have severe problems doing my usual activities	4.2	0.7
	I am unable to do my usual activities	2.8	0.5
Pain/discomfort	I have no pain or discomfort	42.6	75.6	1,141,761	<0.05
	I have slight pain or discomfort	20.8	13.4
	I have moderate pain or discomfort	24.2	8.4
	I have severe pain or discomfort	11.0	2.4
	I have extreme pain or discomfort	1.4	0.2
Anxiety/depression	I am not anxious or depressed	26.5	87.7	5,288,372	<0.05
	I am slightly anxious or depressed	27.1	8.9
	I am moderately anxious or depressed	26.6	2.6
	I am severely anxious or depressed	16.5	0.6
	I am extremely anxious or depressed	3.3	0.2

Note:

* P-value of chi-square test.

Abbreviations: CD, chronic depression; OCCs, other chronic conditions; EQ-5D-5L, EuroQol five-dimensional descriptive system.

Table 2 Utility level and use of health care resources: univariate analysis and results of regression models

Variable category	Variable	Univariate analysisa		Type of regression modelb,c,d	Type of coefficient	Coefficient (95% CI)	P-value*
		CD	OCC
Utility level GP	Utility level (mean ± SD)	0.74±0.28	0.94±0.14	Linear regression	B	−0.09 (−0.10 to −0.08)	<0.05
	Patient visited GP at least once in the last 4 weeks	78.3%	76.2%	Binary logistic regression	OR	1.17 (0.92–1.49)	NS
	Number of visits (mean ± SD)	1.5±1.2	1.3±0.7	Poisson regression	Exp(B)	1.040 (1.037–1.042)	<0.05
Specialist	Patient visited specialist at least once in the last 4 weeks	55.1%	44.2%	Binary logistic regression	OR	1.11 (0.91–1.35)	NS
	Number of visits (mean ± SD)	1.5±1.2	1.3±1.2	Poisson regression	Exp(B)	1.138 (1.135–1.141)	<0.05
Hospital admissions	Patient admitted to hospital in the last 12 months	14.5%	8.5%	Binary logistic regression	OR	0.89 (0.71–1.13)	NS
	Hospital admissions in the last 12 months (mean ± SD)	1.5±0.9	1.3±0.8	Poisson regression	Exp(B)	1.149 (1.144–1.154)	<0.05
	Length of stay (days) in hospital during last admission (mean ± SD)	7.0±9.9	5.8±12.3	Poisson regression	Exp(B)	1.513 (1.510–1.516)	<0.05
Use of emergency services	Patients used emergency services in the last 12 months	43.8%	29.2%	Binary logistic regression	OR	1.03 (0.88–1.21)	<0.05
	Number of times patient used emergency services in the last 12 months (mean ± SD)	2.5±2.6	1.7±1.7	Poisson regression	Exp(B)	1.149 (1.147–1.151)	<0.05
Use of drugs	Patient consumed prescribed drugs in the last 2 weeks	85.4%	67.3%	Binary logistic regression	OR	1.24 (1.02–1.50)	<0.05

Notes: In all regressions, diagnosis of CD is codified as 1 when “yes” (presence) and 0 when “no” (absence).

a Univariate analysis is presented as mean and SD for continuous variables and as percentage of use of the population group for dichotomous variables.

b In the linear regressions, the dependent variable is reported in the “Variable” column. Independent variables were: diagnosis of CD (yes/no variable), age, sex, and total number of comorbidities. For space reasons, only the coefficients associated with diagnosis of CD (yes) are reported in the table.

c In the binary logistic regression, the dependent variable was diagnosis of CD (yes/no). The independent variables were: the variable in the “Variable” column, age, sex, and total number of comorbidities. For space reasons, only ORs associated with the independent variable of interest are reported in the table.

d In the Poisson regression, the dependent variable is reported in the “Variable” column. Independent variables were: diagnosis of CD (yes/no variable), age, sex, and total number of comorbidities. For space reasons, only the coefficients associated with diagnosis of CD (yes) are reported in the table.

* Controlling for age, sex, and total number of comorbidities.

Abbreviations: GP, general practitioner; CD, chronic depression; OCCs, other chronic conditions; CI, confidence interval; SD, standard deviation; OR, odds ratio; NS, not significant; B, B coefficient; Exp(B), exponentiation of the B coefficient.

Figure 3 Percentage of people who reported having mental health problems that were worse or much worse than usual in the last 2 weeks.

Figure 4 Percentage of patients consuming prescribed medication.