Table 1 Demographic and clinical characteristics of male and female MDD patients with recurrent depression

Demographic characteristics

 Age (years)

44.48 ± 13.98

43.32 ± 13.77

45.22 ± 14.07

-2.317

0.021^*

Education level

 Below undergraduate

754 (61.7)

286 (62.0)

486 (66.6)

6.592

0.037^*

 Undergraduate and above

382 (31.3)

158 (34.3)

224 (31.9)

 Postgraduate and above

28 (2.3)

17 (3.7)^*

11 (1.6)^*

Marital status

 Unmarried

197 (16.1)

91 (19.4)

106 (14.4)

5.260

0.154

 Married

933 (76.4)

350 (74.5)

583 (79.0)

 Divorced

43 (3.5)

16 (3.4)

27 (3.7)

 Widowed

35 (2.9)

13 (2.8)

22 (3.1)

Employment status

 Unemployed

307 (25.1)

95 (20.7)^*

212 (29.6)^*

31.102

0.000^**

 Employed

577 (47.2)

272 (59.3)^*

305 (42.6)^*

 Student

53 (4.3)

17 (3.7)

36 (5.0)

 Retired

238 (19.5)

75 (16.3)^*

163 (22.8)^*

Smoking habits

 Non-smoker

998 (81.7)

294 (61.9)^*

704 (94.6)^*

209.264

0.000^**

 Ex-smoker

109 (8.9)

90 (18.9)^*

19 (2.6)^*

 Current smoker

112 (9.2)

91 (19.2)^*

21 (2.8)^*

Alcohol consumption

 Non-drinker

1022 (83.6)

319 (67.4)^*

703 (94.6)^*

159.364

0.000^**

 Ex-drinker

119 (9.7)

93 (19.7)^*

26 (3.5)^*

 Current drinker

75 (6.1)

61 (12.9)^*

14 (1.9)^*

Clinical characteristics

 Total course of depression (months)

25 (6, 60)

28.5 (7, 66)

24 (5.69, 56)

-2.223

0.026^*

 Duration of current episode (months)

2 (1, 4.5)

2.25 (1, 5.44)

2 (1, 4)

-3.547

0.000^**

 Number of depressive episodes

2 (2, 3)

3 (2, 3)

2 (2, 3)

-1.029

0.303

 Number of hospitalization

0 (0, 2)

0 (0, 2)

0 (0, 2)

-0.382

0.702

 Antidepressants usage during first-onset

1113 (91.1)

437 (39.3)

676 (60.7)

0.510

0.475

 Medical history of physical illnesses

318 (26.1)

121 (25.5)

197 (26.5)

0.136

0.713

 Comorbid hypertension

108 (8.8)

50 (10.5)

58 (7.8)

2.687

0.101

 Comorbid diabetes

44 (3.6)

15 (3.2)

29 (3.9)

0.454

0.501