Quality of life outcomes among patients with depression after 6 months of starting treatment: Results from FINDER

Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) data in depression are limited. We studied the impact of antidepressant (AD) treatmentonHRQoLoutcomesindepressedpatientsandinvestigatedfactorsassociatedwiththeseoutcomesinroutinepracticesettings. Methods: The Factors Influencing Depression Endpoints Research (FINDER) study was a 6-month, European, prospective, observational study, designed to estimate HRQoL in 3468 adult patients with a clinically diagnosed episode of depression at baseline and at 3 and 6-months after commencing AD treatment. HRQoL was assessed by the Medical Outcome Short-Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36) and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D). Regression analysis identified baseline and treatment variables independently and significantly associated with HRQoL outcomes. Results: Most HRQoL improvement occurred within 3 months of starting treatment. Better HRQoL outcomes were strongly associated with fewer somatic symptoms at baseline, AD treatment taken and not switching within AD groups. Education and occupational status were also important. Depression variables (number of previous depressions and current episode duration) were consistently associated withworseHRQoLoutcomes.Self-rateddepressionseveritywasassociatedwithpooreroutcomesontheSF-36mentalcomponentonly. Limitations: As this was an observational study, the important finding that between and within AD group switching impacted HRQoL will need to be investigated in more controlled settings.