Fatigue on Waking, Insomnia, and Workplace Relationship Problems May Help to Detect Suicidal Ideation among New Middle-Aged Primary Care Patients: A 6-Month Prospective Study in Japan.

Signs of suicidal depression often go undetected in primary care settings. This study explored predictive factors for depression with suicidal ideation (DSI) among middle-aged primary care patients at 6 months after an initial clinic visit. New patients aged 35-64 years were recruited from internal medicine clinics in Japan. Baseline characteristics were elicited using self-administered and physician questionnaires. DSI was evaluated using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Profile of Mood States at enrollment and 6 months later. Multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to calculate adjusted odds ratios for DSI. Sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios for associated factors were calculated. Among 387 patients, 13 (3.4%) were assessed as having DSI at 6 months. Adjusted for sex, age, and related factors, significant odds ratios for DSI were observed for "fatigue on waking ≥1/month" (7.90, 95% confidence intervals: 1.06-58.7), "fatigue on waking ≥1/week" (6.79, 1.02-45.1), "poor sleep status" (8.19, 1.05-63.8), and "relationship problems in the workplace" (4.24, 1.00-17.9). Fatigue on waking, sleep status, and workplace relationship problems may help predict DSI in primary care. Because the sample size in this investigation was small, further studies with larger samples are needed to confirm our findings.

Inquiring about insomnia may facilitate diagnosis of depression in the primary care setting.

AIM: Depression is often undiagnosed in primary care. Asking about sleep status is much easier than asking about mood. This study was conducted to examine the relation between insomnia and depression. METHODS: New patients aged 35-64 years were recruited from internal medicine clinics in Japan. Self-administered questionnaires were employed. Depression was evaluated by the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Profile of Mood States. Sleep status was investigated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Likelihood ratios of insomnia for depression were calculated. To assess the relation between insomnia and depression independent of confounding factors, adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Among 598 subjects, 153 (25.6%) were assessed as having depression. 'Very bad sleep quality, with difficulty falling asleep within 30 min ≥3 times/week' showed a positive likelihood ratio of 20.36 (95%CI, 2.53-164) while 'not very good sleep quality' had a negative likelihood ratio of 0.32 (95%CI, 0.14-0.72). Adjusted for sex, age, underlying diseases, major life events, lifestyle habits, and relationship problems, significant OR for depression were observed for 'difficulty falling asleep within 30 min ≥3 times/week' (OR, 2.53; 95%CI, 1.07-5.98), 'waking up in the middle of the night or early morning ≥3 times/week' (OR, 3.09; 95%CI, 1.58-6.05), and 'fairly bad sleep quality' (OR, 3.65; 95%CI, 1.34-9.96). CONCLUSION: Inquiring about the weekly frequency of difficulty 'falling asleep within 30 min,' 'waking up in the middle of the night or early morning,' and 'sleep quality' may help to diagnose depression.