Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #105836

James S. Krause, PhD¹, Lynne E. Broderick, MPH², and Joy Broyles, MPH². (1) College of Health Professions, Medical University of South Carolina, 19 Hagood Avenue, Suite 910, Charleston, SC 29425, (2) Crawford Research Institute, Shepherd Center, 2020 Peachtree Road, Atlanta, GA 30309, 404-367-1348, lynne_broderick@shepherd.org

We will present data on probable major depressive disorder (pMDD) and specific depressive symptoms among 266 participants with spinal cord injury (SCI) assessed during their initial inpatient rehabilitation. We compared outcomes with those obtained in a recent study of 849 participants from 16 model SCI systems taken at one year post-injury (Bombardier et al., 2004). There were several inclusion criteria: traumatic spinal cord injury, 16 years of age or more, and assessed within 4 months of onset. The Patient History Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was administered an average of 49 days after onset (range 12-114). Only 6% reported pMDD, just more than half than reported at one year (11.4%). There was a substantially lower incidence of the two primary symptoms upon which this diagnosis is based, anhedonia (13.9%; 19.6%) and depressed mood (7.5%; 18.7%), with suicidal ideation much lower during inpatient rehabilitation (3.4%; 15.4%). In contrast, our sample reported a higher incidence of sleep disturbance (32.3%; 26.0%) and appetite change than reported at one-year (26.9%; 15.0%). Just under 10% of our sample reported no depressive symptoms compared with 23.4% at one year. Only 6.3% reported scores of 15 or higher (less than that at one year, 12.1%). In conclusion, depressive symptoms are more concentrated on physiologic indicators during inpatient rehabilitation, with few people at either extreme (no symptoms; pMDD). Although more prominent depressive symptoms appear to emerge by one year post injury, longitudinal research is needed to evaluate changes in depressive symptoms through first few years post injury.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify primary symptoms on which a depression diagnosis is made using PHQ-9 2)Discuss the depressive symptoms apparent in a sample of individuals with recent spinal cord injuries 3)Describe the concentration of depressive symptoms during inpatient rehabilitation for spinal cord injury

Keywords: Disability, Depression

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation