Comparison of victimized versus non-victimized Egyptian patients with major depressive disorder

Abstract EN

ackground: Victimization of patients with major depressive disorder is a serious problem that is underestimated.

Objectives: The current study identified and compared clinical and socio-demographic characteristics of victimized and non-victimized Egyptian patients with major depressive disorder.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, N=100 participants were recruited from the Institute of Psychiatry, Ain Shams University and administered the Structured Clinical Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th ed.

Axis I (DSM-IV; SCID), Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF), Clinical Global Impression (CGI), Victimization Questionnaire (VQ) and a questionnaire for demographic data.

Patients were classified into victimized (n=52) and nonvictimized (n=48) groups.

Results: Fifty two percent of patients with depression reported being victimized.

The majority were married women with low socio-economic status and experiences of abuse in childhood compared with the nonvictimized group.

Most victimized patients were diagnosed with recurrent MDD followed by MDD with psychotic features.

The HAM-D indicated severe depression in 92.3% of the victimized group and the CGI indicated marked illness compared with the non-victimized group.

All patients in the victimized group experienced emotional abuse; 58.3% were subjected to physical abuse and 30.8% were subjected to miscellaneous types of abuse.

Emotional abuse was mainly by spouses.

The majority did not report such incidents.

Conclusion: The rate of physical and emotional abuse of patients with depression is high.

Women were more likely to be victimized than men.

Routine psychiatric interviews should include questions about patient abuse history.

Further research is needed in order to inform mental health policies and procedures within Egyptian societ