Comparison of community integration of patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder with healthy controls

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the community integration of patients diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder with a healthy control group. Materials and Methods: The patient group of the study included 117 people who were admitted to the Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic of Ankara City Hospital for treatment or inpatient treatment in the psychiatry service, who were diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder according to DSM-5 in the clinical evaluation and who agreed to participate in the study and signed the informed consent form. In the healthy control group of the study, 130 volunteers who were statistically correlated with the patients in terms of age and gender, who did not have a diagnosis of any psychiatric disorder according to the clinical interview and who gave written consent for the study were included. Beck Depression Scale and Community Integration Scale for Adults with Psychiatric Disorders (CIS-APP-34) were administered to all participants. Basic statistical analyses were performed with the data obtained. Results: : In the study, it was found that the total score and all sub-factor scores of the CIS-APP-34 scale developed specifically for adults with psychiatric disorders to measure community integration were lower in the patient group diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder compared to the control group. At the same time, the severity of depression was assessed with the Beck Depression Scale and it was found that as the severity of depression increased, community integration decreased. Discussion: In conclusion, patients with Major Depressive Disorder have lower community integration compared to the control group and community integration decreases as the severity of depression increases. Considering the importance of community integration for the recovery and well-being of individuals with mental disorders, the results of our study may be useful. Key Words: MDD, community integration, community cohesion, CIS-APP