Differential impact of risk factors for women and men on the risk of major depressive disorder.
Stegenga, Bauke T;
King, Michael;
Grobbee, Diederick E;
Torres-González, Francisco;
Švab, Igor;
Maaroos, Heidi-Ingrid;
Xavier, Miguel;
Saldivia, Sandra;
Bottomley, Christian;
Nazareth, Irwin;
+1 more...Geerlings, Mirjam I;
(2012)
Differential impact of risk factors for women and men on the risk of major depressive disorder.
Annals of epidemiology, 22 (6).
pp. 388-396.
ISSN 1047-2797
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annepidem.2012.04.011
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PURPOSE: Our aim is to examine which risk factors have a greater impact in women than in men on the risk of major depressive disorder (MDD) and whether factors differ between a possible recurrent MDD and a first onset of MDD. METHODS: Prospective cohort study of general practice attendees in seven countries, who were followed up at 6 and 12 months (predictD). Absolute risk differences (interaction contrast) across sex for onset of DSM-IV MDD after 6 or 12 months of follow-up were estimated for 35 risk factors from 7101 participants without MDD at baseline. RESULTS: A total of 599 participants (80% female) had an onset of MDD at 6 or 12 months. Most risk factors had a greater impact in women than in men on the risk of MDD and were not restricted to a specific class of risk factors. After we stratified for a history of depressive symptoms, we found that the impact of risk factors across sex was generally stronger on possible recurrent MDD than on a first onset of MDD. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings may partly account for the observed difference in incidence of MDD between men and women.