Background: Persistent Depressive Disorder (PDD) has higher comorbidity rates and negative impact on different aspects of patient's life than episodic, non-chronic, Major Depressive Disorder. To our knowledge, no recent studies about PDD held in Egypt.
Objective: To estimate the prevalence and comorbidities of PDD and its subtypes among a sample of psychiatric outpatients.
Patients and methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional, non-randomized study. It was conducted in Al-Azhar University hospitals over the period from October 2109 till July 2020. Sample of 111 adult patients, aging (18 - 65) years old from both genders, who are visiting the psychiatric outpatient for whatever complaint are collected consecutively. Prior to applying the tests, patients with the diagnosis of bipolar I and II disorders, psychotic disorders, acute suicidality, intellectual disabilities, organic mental disorders, or history of brain surgery were excluded from the study. Those patients underwent detailed clinical examination, patient health questionnaire and persistent depression screener.
Results: Prevalence of PDD among our sample was 36.9% (n=41) with late onset in 55% (n=22). The subtype “intermittent major depressive episodes with current episode" was the most prevalent subtype in 61% (n=25). post-traumatic stress disorder and specific phobia were significantly more common in PDD cases (P= 0.001, P=0.41 respectively), while panic disorder was significantly less common (P=0.013). All other comorbidities were equally distributed among PDD and non-PDD cases.
Conclusion: PDD was a highly prevalent psychiatric disorder and may be masked by comorbid psychiatric disorders even MDD. These findings might promote psychiatrists to give more attention to PDD because of its impact on prognosis of other disorders and patient's quality of life.