Article

Utility scores of symptom profiles in major depression.

Mood & Anxiety Disorders Program, Department of Psychiatry, Sunnybrook & Women's College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Psychiatry Research (impact factor: 2.52). 07/2002; 110(2):189-97.
Source: PubMed

ABSTRACT Utility is a measure of undesirability for a specific health state. This study determines the utility scores for the individual symptoms of depression, and examines the impact that personal experience with depression has on these scores. Seventy-five subjects (19 with current depression, 21 with past depression, and 35 healthy controls) assigned utility scores to each of 10 individual symptoms of depression, and three depression severity profiles. Utility scores were measured using the standard gamble technique. Mean utility scores were used to list the symptoms of depression from most to least undesirable. The three diagnostic groups were compared with respect to the magnitude of undesirability of the depressive symptoms. The results of this study found that individuals assigned different utility scores to different symptoms of depression. The psychological symptoms of depression such as suicidal ideation, guilt and depressed mood were ranked as more undesirable than the somatic symptoms of depression. Each diagnostic group ranked the symptoms of depression in a similar manner. Patients with a current depression were willing to accept a greater risk of death to avoid suffering from lifelong depressive symptoms as compared to patients with a past depression or healthy controls.

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Keywords

10 individual symptoms
 
35 healthy controls
 
depressed mood
 
depressive symptoms
 
different symptoms
 
different utility scores
 
greater risk
 
healthy controls
 
individual symptoms
 
lifelong depressive symptoms
 
Mean utility scores
 
personal experience
 
psychological symptoms
 
similar manner
 
somatic symptoms
 
specific health state
 
standard gamble technique
 
suicidal ideation
 
three diagnostic groups
 
utility scores
 

Ayal Schaffer