CHANGES IN THE FREQUENCY-DISTRIBUTION PATTERN OF BODY-WEIGHT IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR DEPRESSION

To compare the frequency distribution of body weight of the depressed patients with that of a standard group and to evaluate the change in d istribution during treatment, body weight was measured in 106 depresse d inpatients with major depressive disorder as defined by DSM-III crit eria both on admission and on discharge. The body weight distribution in the depressed patients skewed towards a high frequency of lower wei ghts on admission but shifted to the normal pattern on discharge. In w omen, this tendency was more obvious and was statistically significant . The body weight distribution in the depressed patients with melancho lia maintained high frequencies of lower body weight on discharge, whi le that in those without melancholia did not, suggesting that there co uld be a difference in the pattern of body weight distributions betwee n those with endogenous and nonendogenous depression. Three tricyclic antidepressants examined (imipramine, clomipramine and desipramine) di d not seem to have the side effect of pathological weight gain in the frequency distribution pattern.