Definitions and factors associated with subthreshold depressive conditions: a systematic review

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Somnath Chatterji¹  Roberto Nuevo²  Mar Rivas Rodríguez²  José Luis Ayuso-Mateos³ 

[1] Department of Health Statistics and Informatics, World Health Organization, Avenue Appia 20, 1211, Geneva 27, CH, Switzerland;Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain;Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain;Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Madrid, Spain;Department of Psychiatry, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Hospital Universitario de la Princesa, Madrid, Spain;Hospital Universitario de La Princesa, C./Diego de León 62, 28006, Madrid, Spain;

关键词: Depressive Symptom;    Major Depression;    Depressive Episode;    Minor Depression;    Subthreshold Depression;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-244X-12-181

 received in 2011-10-11, accepted in 2012-09-28,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSubthreshold depressive disorders (minor and subthrehold depression) have been defined in a wide range of forms, varying on the number of symptoms and duration required. Disability associated with these conditions has also been reported. Our aim was to review the different definitions and to determine factors associated with these conditions in order to clarify the nosological implications of these disorders.MethodsA Medline search was conducted of the published literature between January 2001 and September 2011. Bibliographies of the retrieved papers were also analysed.ResultsThere is a wide heterogeneity in the definition and diagnostic criteria of minor and subthreshold depression. Minor depression was defined according to DSM-IV criteria. Regarding subthreshold depression, also called subclinical depression or subsyndromal symptomatic depression, between 2 and 5 depressive symptoms were required for the diagnosis, and a minimum duration of 2 weeks. Significant impairment associated with subthreshold depressive conditions, as well as comorbidity with other mental disorders, has been described.ConclusionsDepression as a disorder is better explained as a spectrum rather than as a collection of discrete categories. Minor and subthreshold depression are common conditions and patients falling below the diagnostic threshold experience significant difficulties in functioning and a negative impact on their quality of life. Current diagnostic systems need to reexamine the thresholds for depressive disorders and distinguish them from ordinary feelings of sadness.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Rivas Rodríguez et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.