Patient-reported depressive symptoms among individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder with and without prominent anhedonia using a real-world dataset

Abstract: Anhedonia is a core feature of major depressive disorder (MDD). However, little is known about its related symptom burden and its impact on patients’ clinical trajectory. This retrospective cohort study used the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-items (PHQ-9) to assess depression symptoms at baseline and over time among MDD patients with prominent anhedonia (MDD-ANH) and with no/low anhedonia (other-MDD). Newly diagnosed MDD patients with their first recorded PHQ-9 within one month of diagnosis (baseline score) were included. Data are from a real-world dataset of over 500,000 patients with MDD in the US with linked claims and electronic medical record data (OM1, Inc. Boston MA). Prominent anhedonia was defined as a score of ≥2 on item 1 (anhedonia) of the PHQ-9 among moderately to severely depressed patients (PHQ-9 total score of ≥10). Symptom burden and remission (defined as PHQ-9 total score 5) were assessed during four follow-up time windows (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12-months). A total of 5,709 patients were included: 4,255 (74.5%) MDD-ANH patients and 1,454 (25.5%) other-MDD patients. At baseline, MDD-ANH patients had a mean PHQ-9 score of 18.2 (SD=4.2) compared to 13.5 (SD=2.9) for other-MDD. The percentage of patients in remission throughout the follow-up was lower among MDD-ANH patients (21.2%, 28.1%, 27.2%, and 30.0%) compared to other-MDD patients (27.0%, 32.9%, 33.1%, and 32.6%), respectively. Findings suggest that MDD-ANH patients have more severe depressive symptoms than other-MDD patients at baseline and have lower percentages of remission in the year following initial assessment.Short Description: This retrospective cohort study describes depressive symptoms among MDD patients with and without prominent anhedonia. Symptoms were assessed at diagnosis and four follow-up time windows (0-3, 3-6, 6-9, and 9-12-months) using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9). Mean baseline PHQ-9 for the prominent anhedonia cohort was 18.2 (SD=4.2) compared to 13.5 (SD =2.9) in the low/no anhedonia group. Results suggest that MDD patients with prominent anhedonia have more severe depression and lower rates of remission.Name of Sponsoring Organization(s): This study was funded by Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC