Frequency of major depressive disorder in HTLV-I infected patients

THESES

Frequency of major depressive disorder in HTLV-I infected patients (abstract)^*. Dissertation. Rio de Janeiro, 2007.

Alessandro Rocha Milan de Souza ^**

INTRODUCTION: Symptoms of depression are fairly common among hospitalized patients and they are part of the diagnostic criteria for major depressive episode, as defined by DSM-IV. These symptoms consist of changes in appetite, sleep disturbances, agitation or psychomotor retardation, fatigue or loss of energy, feelings of uselessness or excessive guilt, a decrease in thinking capacity or in concentration and recurring thoughts about death. Major depression is characterized by changes in mood and in interest levels, as well as other symptoms, that persist in a period of at least two weeks. It occurs at a rate of 2 to 6.6% in the population at large and 5 to10% in hospitalized patients. Symptoms of depression are common during or following viral infections. Nevertheless, showing an association between an episode of major depression and viral infections remains a controversial topic.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prevalence of the major depression episode and of symptoms of depression in patients infected with the HTLV-I virus.

METHOD: We prospectively selected 36 patients infected with the HTLV-1 virus. The diagnosis for depression was performed according to DSM-IV criteria. In all of the depressed patients, we applied the Hamilton scale (HAM-D 21 items) in order to quantify the disease. The mini mental health exam was used to exclude patients with cognitive deficiencies.

RESULTS: Ten participants (28%) were suffering from depression, wherein nine were female and one was male. Moderate or severe depression was observed with greater frequency in patients with HAM/TSP (20.0%) when compared with asymptomatic patients (7.7%). Seventy-seven percent (number=22) presented at least one symptom of depression. The most prevalent symptoms consisted of sleep disturbances, changes in appetite and anhedonia.

CONCLUSION: This study indicates that there is a higher prevalence of depression among patients infected with the HTLV-I virus as compared to the general population of hospitalized patients. The authors emphasize the importance of further investigating symptoms of depression in patients infected with HTLV-I, considering the loss of social and professional function that occurs in these cases.

Key words: human T-lymphotropic virus 1, major depression, asymptomatic and HAM/TSP HTLV-1.

*

Estudo da frequência do episódio depressivo maior em pacientes portadores do vírus HTLV-I. Dissertação de Mestrado, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro(UNIRIO), (Área: Neurologia). Orientador: Marzia Puccioni-Sohler.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  05 June 2009
• Date of issue
  June 2009