Significant Differences in 9-Month Health Outcomes between the Treated Depressed Women, Untreated Depressed Women, and Nondepressed Women Self-Report Groups
| Health Outcomes | Depressed/Treated (n = 76) | Depressed/Untreated (n = 46) | Nondepressed (n = 344) | F | P* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHQ-9 score† | 7.9 (6.2) | 7.3 (5.1) | 2.3 (2.8) | 53.7 | .000 |
| Mental health score‡ | 20.6 (4.9) | 21.3 (4.2) | 25.6 (2.9) | 68.8 | .000 |
| General health score§ | 3.0 (0.9) | 3.3 (0.7) | 3.8 (0.9) | 129.6 | .000 |
| Number of illness days (within 2 weeks) | |||||
| Mother | 3.3 (6.0) | 2.3 (4.4) | 1.3 (3.1) | 3.7 | .054 |
| Infant | 1.5 (3.1) | 1.6 (3.2) | 1.1 (2.6) | 0.1 | .820 |
| Number of acute care visits (within 2 weeks) | |||||
| Mother | 0.3 (1.5) | 0.1 (0.4) | 0.1 (0.5) | 35.1 | .000 |
| Infant | 0.4 (1.8) | 0.2 (0.5) | 0.2 (0.5) | 0.5 | .499 |
| Impact of problems on regular activities‖ | 3.2 (2.9) | 2.0 (2.5) | 1.0 (1.8) | 14.7 | .000 |
All values provided as mean (SD).
* Determined by analysis of covariance.
† PHQ-9 score range = 0–27, with higher numbers representing more depressive symptoms.
‡ Mental health score range = 5–30, with higher numbers representing better mental health.
§ General health, single item: 1 = poor, 2 = fair, 3 = good, 4 = very good, 5 = excellent.
‖ Impact of health problems on regular activities (unrelated to job), scale of 0–10, with higher numbers representing greater negative health impact.
PHQ, Patient Health Questionnaire.