The level of recognition of physical symptoms in patients with a major depression episode in the outpatient psychiatric practice in Puerto Rico: An observational study

Table 5 Sample characteristics at initial visit according to the total SSI score*

Variable	Minimum degree of discomfort (n = 34)¶	Moderate/High degree of discomfort (n = 87)¶	p-Value
Average SSI Score (st.dev.)	41.0 (7.7)	76.06 (16.65)	<0.001
Average Age (st.dev.)	40.69 (13.23)	45.5 (10.00)	0.0193
Gender:
Female (77.9%)	29.25	70.75	0.034
Employment Status:
Employed (58.5%) §	41.30	58.70	0.013
Antidepressants:
SSRIs (61%)† T	34.88	65.12	0.553
Other antidepressants	29.03	70.97
(26.5%) †
Total VAS Score ‡	49.8	70.8	<0.001

*SSI – Somatic Symptom Inventory; §Includes housewives and students; T Includes fluoxetine, setraline, paroxetine, citalopram; † Includes venlafaxine and bupropion; ‡ Self-evaluation analogue visual scale of the depression scored by the patients; ¶Minimum degree of discomfort due to somatic symptoms (SSI ≤ 52 – 26 items); Moderate/high degree of discomfort due to somatic symptoms (SSI > 52 – 26 items).

ISSN: 1471-244X