The Association Between Quality of Life and Severity of Specific Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder Amenable to Effective Nursing Interventions

Aim: Some of the symptoms of major depressive disorder and some aspects of quality of life (QoL) are amenable to effective nursing interventions. The specific aim of this research was to examine the association of QoL of patients with major depressive disorder with the severity of individual symptoms amenable to effective nurse intervention. Subjects and Methods: A unicentric, cross-sectional study was performed on a consecutive sample of 72 outpatients diagnosed with a major depressive disorder (ICD - 10: F32 and F33). Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of major depressive disorder, age 18-65 years, both sexes, outpatient treatment. The primary outcome was the subjective assessment of health-related QoL as measured by the visual-analogue scale of the EQ - 5D - 5L questionnaire. Results: We found a negative association between more severe pessimism as well as self-dislike of any intensity with QoL in patients with major depressive disorder. We have not confirmed the hypothesis regarding the association between sadness and QoL. Conclusion: Nurse interventions that decrease patient pessimism and self-dislike could contribute to QoL improvement in patients with major depressive disorder. This investigation could contribute to focused cognitive-behavioral interventions of psychiatric nurses in multidisciplinary care for outpatients with major depressive disorder, achieving better treatment outcomes and particularly improvements of QoL.