Prevalence and clinical correlates of psychotic symptoms in first-episode untreated female chinese patients with major depressive disorder

Abstract Background Recent studies have reported that psychotic symptoms are common in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). However, few studies have reported the relationship between thyroid function, lipid metabolism and clinical profiles in female MDD patients. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the prevalence of psychotic depression (PD) and its risk factors in first-episode and drug naive (FEDN) depression among the female population in China. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving a representative probability sample of 1,130 FEDN female outpatients with MDD (aged 18 years or older) in China. We collected information relating to socio-demographic characteristics, clinical data and blood samples. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale 17-item version (HAMD-17), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale 14-item version (HAMA-14), and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) were used to evaluate depressive, anxiety, and psychotic symptoms. Results The prevalence of psychotic symptoms in female MDD patients was 10.97%. The findings revealed significant differences between MDD female patients with psychotic symptoms and non-PD female patients in the following areas: higher HAMD scores, higher HAMA scores, more severe anxiety and an increased risk of suicide attempts. Further logistic regression analysis showed that psychotic symptoms were associated with higher thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and an odds ratio of 1.168. Conclusions Our findings supported the hypothesis that higher TSH levels were correlated with psychotic symptoms in female MDD patients. Therefore, serum TSH levels may be a potential biomarker of PD in female MDD patients. In addition, we found that PD was closely associated with suicide attempts and lipid levels, but did not reach statistical significance