In multiple sclerosis anxiety, not depression, is related to gender.
BACKGROUND
There is a high prevalence of depressive and anxiety disorders in multiple sclerosis (MS), a disease 2.5 times more frequent in females. Contrary to the general population, in whom studies have demonstrated higher rates of depression and anxiety in females, little is known about the impact of gender on psychiatric sequelae in MS patients.


OBJECTIVES
We conducted a retrospective study to try to clarify this uncertainty.


METHODS
Demographic, illness-related and behavioral variables were obtained from a neuropsychiatric database of 896 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of MS. Symptoms of depression and anxiety were obtained with the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Gender comparisons were undertaken and predictors of depression and anxiety sought with a linear regression analysis.


RESULTS
HADS data were available for 711 of 896 (79.35%) patients. Notable gender differences included a higher frequency of primary progressive MS in males (p = 0.002), higher HADS anxiety scores in females (p < 0.001), but no differences in HADS depression scores.


CONCLUSION
In MS, gender influences the frequency of anxiety only. This suggests that the etiological factors underpinning anxiety and depression in MS are not only different from one another, but also in the case of depression, different from those observed in general population samples.
['Théaudin|Marie|M|', 'Romero|Kristoffer|K|', 'Feinstein|Anthony|A|']
D000328:Adult D001007:Anxiety D001008:Anxiety Disorders D016208:Databases, Factual D003863:Depression D003866:Depressive Disorder D005260:Female D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D009103:Multiple Sclerosis D015995:Prevalence D012189:Retrospective Studies D012737:Sex Factors
Multiple sclerosis anxiety depression gender