Severe deep white matter lesions and outcome in elderly patients with major depressive disorder: Follow up study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the difference in outcome among elderly people with major depression who do and do not have severe white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. Design: Follow up study. Setting: Two psychiatric and two general hospitals in Melbourne, Australia. Subjects: 60 depressed subjects aged over 55 referred to hospital psychiatric services with major depressive disorder meeting American Psychiatric Association (DSM-IIIR)criteria. Main outcome measure: Proportion with good outcome as determined by full recovery from initial illness and no evidence of depressive relapse or cognitive decline during follow up among those with and without lesions. Results: Mean (SD) follow up..