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Table 1 Demographic and mental health characteristics of the study population on prescription of an antidepressant (baseline), by country

From: Antidepressant treatment and cultural differences - a survey of the attitudes of physicians and patients in Sweden and Turkey

Characteristic Sweden (n = 107) Turkey (n = 353) P-value
Sex, n (%) Female 58 (55.2%) 269 (76.4%) <0.001
Age Mean ± SD (n) 51.1 ± 14.7 (100) 39.9 ± 11.5 (340) <0.001
CGI-Severity a Mean ± SD (n) 4.4 ± 0.8 (105) 5.1 ± 1.1 (344) <0.001
Medications prescribed, n (%) SSRIs 66 (88.0%) 275 (93.2%) 0.149
  TCAs 0 (0.0%) 5 (1.7%) 0.588
  Venlafaxine 3 (4.0%) 6 (2.0%) 0.395
  Mirtazapine 7 (9.3%) 8 (2.7%) 0.017
  Other ADs 0 (0.0%) 20 (6.8%) 0.018
  Anxiolytics 5 (6.7%) 52 (17.6%) 0.019
  Hypnotics 11 (14.7%) 2 (0.7%) <0.001
  Analgesics 10 (13.3%) 15 (5.1%) 0.018
Presenting symptoms (psychological), n (%) a Depression 70 (65.4%) 267 (75.6%) 0.046
  Anxiety 55 (51.4%) 188 (53.3%) 0.742
  Sleep 55 (51.4%) 201 (56.9%) 0.320
Presenting symptoms (physical), n (%) a Fatigue 47 (43.9%) 200 (56.7%) 0.027
  Pain 40 (37.4%) 209 (59.2%) <0.001
  Gastro-intestinal 21 (19.6%) 150 (42.5%) <0.001
  Cardiovascular 8 (7.5%) 86 (24.4%) <0.001
  CNS 29 (27.1%) 194 (55.0%) <0.001
Number of psychological symptoms a Mean ± SD (n) 1.7 ± 0.9 (107) 1.9 ± 0.9 (353) 0.067
Number of physical symptoms a Mean ± SD (n) 1.4 ± 1.1 (107) 2.4 ± 1.3 (353) <0.001
HADS-Depression b Mean ± SD (n) 10.3 ± 4.2 (99) 12.8 ± 4.5 (335) <0.001
HADS-Anxiety b Mean ± SD (n) 12.9 ± 4.0 (99) 12.6 ± 4.0 (335) 0.577
Prominent symptoms-Depression b Mean ± SD (n) 5.9 ± 2.2 (97) 6.8 ± 2.6 (342) 0.005
Prominent symptoms-Anxiety b Mean ± SD (n) 5.7 ± 2.4 (101) 6.1 ± 2.8 (339) 0.259
Prominent symptoms-Stress b Mean ± SD (n) 6.2 ± 2.6 (101) 6.9 ± 2.5 (341) 0.010
Prominent symptoms-Sleep b Mean ± SD (n) 5.9 ± 2.9 (101) 6.4 ± 2.9 (341) 0.158
Prominent symptoms-Pain b Mean ± SD (n) 4.8 ± 3.1 (101) 6.2 ± 2.8 (342) <0.001
SDS-Work b Mean ± SD (n) 6.0 ± 3.2 (98) 6.0 ± 2.7 (332) 0.873
SDS-Social b Mean ± SD (n) 6.9 ± 2.5 (102) 6.8 ± 2.5 (342) 0.564
SDS-Family b Mean ± SD (n) 6.6 ± 2.5 (102) 6.5 ± 2.6 (342) 0.882
  1. a As assessed/recorded by the primary care physician
  2. b As assessed/recorded by the patient
  3. Abbreviations: AD: antidepressant, CGI-S: Clinical Global Impression Severity Scale, HADS: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, SD: standard deviation, SDS: Sheehan Disability Scale, SSRI: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, TCA: tricyclic antidepressant
  4. P-values from two sample t-test
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