Clinical Characteristics of Inpatients with Depression

Abstract

The author investigated retrospectively clinical characteristics of patient of depression who admitted to Kyorin University between 1976 and 1989 and about comparison of two subtypes, unipolar and bipolar. Of total 296 depressives, 48 bipolar patients, and 205 unipolar (endogenous type) patients were selected according to research criteria. The two groups were compaired with reference to distribution of the various clinical factors : age, gender, family history, premorbid personality, life event, age of onset, admission period, admission number, occupation, drop out, education, and depressive symptoms. The major findings of the research can be summarized as follows. 1. Onset age of bipolar type was significantly earlier than unipolar patients. 2. Life event and obsessional personality were precipitating factor of onset of illness in unipolars. On the other hand, unipolar patients tend to be less familial, and in bipolars genetic factor was more important than in unipolar type. 3. The incidence of premorbid personality, the rate of immodithymic character or Typus melancholicus was high in both two groups. 4. There was no significant difference of clinical factors : gender, admission period in neither unipolar patients or that of bipolar type, but prolonged tendency of admission period was identified in both groups. 5. The endogenous symptom patterns of bipolar patients were similar to unipolars.