The impact of depressive symptoms on the clinical presentation of Persistent Delusional Disorder.

BACKGROUND

Our aim was to investigate the influence of depressive symptoms on the clinical presentation of Persistent Delusional Disorder (PDD).

METHODS

We have previously conducted a retrospective review of patients diagnosed with PDD (n = 455). We divided this sample into two groups according to the presence or absence of co-morbid depressive symptoms - a subsample of PDD with depressive co-morbidity (PDD + D; n = 187) and a subsample of PDD without depressive co-morbidity (PDD only; n = 268).

RESULTS

PDD + D group had a significantly younger age at onset of PDD. The PDD + D group received significantly more antidepressants but had similar response and adherence rates.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of depressive symptoms in 41% of the study population did not appear to influence the clinical presentation or response to treatment.