Comparison of risk factors for the onset and maintenance of depression.
Bottomley, Christian;
Nazareth, Irwin;
Torres-González, Francisco;
Svab, Igor;
Maaroos, Heidi-Ingrid;
Geerlings, Mirjam I;
Xavier, Miguel;
Saldivia, Sandra;
King, Michael;
(2010)
Comparison of risk factors for the onset and maintenance of depression.
The British journal of psychiatry, 196 (1).
pp. 13-17.
ISSN 0007-1250
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.bp.109.067116
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BACKGROUND: Factors associated with depression are usually identified from cross-sectional studies. AIMS: We explore the relative roles of onset and recovery in determining these associations. METHOD: Hazard ratios for onset and recovery were estimated for 39 risk factors from a cohort study of 10,045 general practice attendees whose depression status was assessed at baseline, 6 and 12 months. RESULTS: Risk factors have a stronger relative effect on the rate of onset than recovery. The strongest risk factors for both onset and maintenance of depression tend to be time-dependent. With the exception of female gender the strength of a risk factor's effect on onset is highly predictive of its impact on recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Preventive measures will achieve a greater reduction in the prevalence of depression than measures designed to eliminate risk factors post onset. The strength of time-dependent risk factors suggests that it is more productive to focus on proximal rather than distal factors.
