Is the type of remission after a major depressive episode an important risk factor to relapses in a 4-year follow up?

Characteristics and differences in treatment outcome of inpatients with chronic vs. episodic major depressive disorders

“…These findings are clinically relevant as the prognosis of depression largely depends on whether full remission is achieved. Residual symptoms have been identified as an important predictive factor for relapse (Pintor et al, 2004).…”

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy vs. psycho-education for patients with major depression who did not achieve remission following antidepressant treatment

“…Indeed, a large proportion of patients does not achieve full symptom remission, even following several treatment steps of medications and/or psychotherapy (Rush et al, 2006;Pigott et al, 2010;Aguglia et al, 2014). Furthermore, even patients who meet remission criteria following pharmacological and/or psychological treatments carry a high risk for relapse Hollon et al, 2005) especially when they continue to experience residual depressive symptoms Judd et al, 1999;Pintor et al, 2004;Israel, 2010).…”

The impact of residual symptoms on outcome of major depression

“…In a more recent Spanish study, of 139 outpatients prospectively followed-up on a monthly basis for 2 years, a relapse rate of 68% was observed in patients who remitted with residual symptoms compared with 15% in those who remitted fully [20]. A follow-up of this cohort after 4 years found a relapse rate of 92% in the residual symptom group compared with 50% in asymptomatic group, although this longer term follow-up was limited by a relatively high number of patients who dropped out of the study [21].…”