To estimate the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and impact of concurrent pain on HRQOL in patients seeking treatment for depression in a 6 month observational study in the United Kingdom (subsample results from pan-European study).

HRQOL was measured using two generic quality of life instruments: the Short Form 36 Health Status Survey (SF-36) and the EuroQol (EQ-5D). Pain was assessed using a visual analogue scale (range 0-100, no/mild pain [NMP] 0-29, clinically significant pain ≥30).

608 eligible patients were enrolled, mean age 42.8 years (SD 14.7) and 61.2% were female. 49.4% of patients reported NMP; 10.8% had significant pain from a co-morbid medical condition known to cause pain (PMC) and 39.8% had significant pain associated with a medical disorder not known to cause pain or without further co-morbidity (PD). SF-36 physical component scores were lowest in the PMC group, 36.7 (SD 9.7); with improving scores in the PD group, 44.4 (SD 10.0) and the NMP group, 54.5 (SD 8.3). There was no marked variation in mental component summary scores between the groups; 23.0 (SD 8.5), 20.4 (SD 9.1) and 21.7 (SD 10.8) respectively. A similar trend in HRQOL loss was observed for the EQ-5D health state index, where scores of 0.30 (SD 0.32), 0.41 (SD 0.30) and 0.60 (SD 0.25) were observed respectively.

A high proportion of patients presented with pain presumably related to depression. The presence of concurrent pain appears to be associated with reductions in SF-36 physical component scores and overall HRQOL (EQ-5D).