Gender differences in glycosylated hemoglobin levels in seasonal affectivedisorder patients and controls

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) has been shown to manifest different symp toms in female and male patients. Specifically, women with SAD have been sh own to have greater increases in overeating, weight gain, and increased sle ep as compared with their male counterparts. Given these dietary changes, w e predicted that female SAD patients would exhibit increased glycosylated h emoglobin (HbA(1)) levels, indicative of chronically elevated glucose level s. Twenty-two patients (15 women and seven men) and matched controls were e nrolled during the winter season and tested for HbA(1) levels. A three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA; gender x group x season) was insignificant and the result was a negative study. After the initial hypothesis was rejected , we undertook a posthoc analysis of the data, from which emerged that in w inter, women patients had higher HbA1 levels as compared with matched contr ols. As our original hypothesis was rejected, we cannot accept the results of the post-hoc study. However, numerous other studies have demonstrated th at female and male SAD patients differ in their pathophysiology, and are su ggestive that in future analyses ought to consider analyzing subjects separ ately across gender. Copyright (C) 1999 by W.B. Saunders Company.