Depression and smoking: a 5-year prospective study of patients with major depressive disorder.

Background: Major depressive disorder (MDD) and smoking are major public health problems and epidemiologically strongly associated. However, the relationship between smoking and depression and whether this is influenced by common confounding factors remain unclear, in part due to limited longitudinal data on covariation.

Methods: In the Vantaa Depression Study, psychiatric out- and inpatients with DSM-IV MDD and aged 20-59 years at were followed from baseline to 6 months, 18 months, and 5 years.

Family history of psychiatric disorders and the outcome of psychiatric patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder.

Background: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is often comorbid with other heritable disorders. The correlates of a family history (FH) of mood disorders but not of comorbid disorders among MDD patients have been investigated. Since bipolar disorder (BD) is highly heritable, latent BD may bias findings.

Treatment attitudes and adherence of psychiatric patients with major depressive disorder: a five-year prospective study.

Background: The prevalence, long-term temporal consistency and factors influencing negative attitudes and poor treatment adherence among psychiatric patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) are not well known.

Methods: In the Vantaa Depression Study (VDS), a prospective 5-year study of psychiatric patients with DSM-IV MDD, 238 (88.5%) patients' attitudes towards and adherence to both antidepressants and psychotherapeutic treatments at baseline, 6 months, 18 months and 5 years was investigated.

Predictors for switch from unipolar major depressive disorder to bipolar disorder type I or II: a 5-year prospective study.

Objective: In this naturalistic study, we investigated the rate, time course, and predictors of a diagnostic switch from unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) to bipolar disorder type I or II during a 5-year follow-up.

Method: The Vantaa Depression Study included at baseline 269 psychiatric outpatients (82.9%) and inpatients (17.

Maintenance pharmacotherapy for recurrent major depressive disorder: 5-year follow-up study.

Practice guidelines endorse maintenance antidepressant treatment for recurrent major depressive disorder. In the Vantaa Depression Study, we followed 218 psychiatric patients with major depressive disorder for up to 5 years with a life-chart. Of these patients, 86 (39.

Long-term outcome of major depressive disorder in psychiatric patients is variable.

Objective: The prevailing view of outcome of major depressive disorder (MDD), based on mostly inpatient cohorts sampled from tertiary centers, emphasizes chronicity and frequent recurrences. We investigated the long-term outcome of a regionally representative psychiatric MDD cohort comprising mainly outpatients.

Method: The Vantaa Depression Study included 163 patients with DSM-IV MDD (71.