Ongoing or re-emerging subjective insomnia symptoms after full/partial remission or recovery of major depressive disorder mainly with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and risk of relapse or recurrence: A 52-week follow-up study

Abstract Background Many patients who remit fully/partially or recover from an episode of major depression continue to suffer from sleep problems, mainly insomnia. Our study assesses the frequency and types of ongoing or re-emerging subjective insomnia symptoms and their relationship to subsequent depressive relapse or recurrence in a group of full/partial remitters or recoverers. Method Sixty patients, 18 to 65 years of age, with current MDD defined using DSM-IV-TR criteria were participated in the study. They began a 24-week course of open-label acute plus continuation phase treatment mainly with SSRIs. Maintenance treatment was not planned for not affecting natural relapse or recurrence rates. All participants were evaluated by CGI-S, BDI, HAMD-17, PSQI, and ISI at weeks 0, 4, 12, 24, and 52. Results Majority of the participants (83.33%) had subjective sleep disturbance, insomnia prior to relapse or recurrence. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate changes in scores of depression and sleep scales over time between recurred (N = 12) and non-recurred groups (N = 48). Differences between means were calculated with post hoc Bonferroni comparison test. The changes in scores of entire clinical scales over time between recurred and non-recurred groups were statistically significant. Limitations The limitations of this study include the use of a relatively small, mostly young female sample and the lack of an objective sleep measure to corroborate self-report scales. Conclusions Early recognition and treatment of disturbances of the sleep–wake cycle may be important for treatment and prevention of recurrence of depression.