A comparative study of quality of life and marital satisfaction in patients with depression and their spouses

Abstract

Spouses of patients suffering from depression experience various forms of burden. Present study assesses and compares the marital satisfaction and quality of life (QOL) of the patients and their spouses. Further it assesses these variables in terms of illness severity, duration of untreated illness (DUI) and other demographic parameters especially gender. In this cross sectional study, 50 patients diagnosed with Depressive Disorder along with their spouses were recruited. Both groups were assessed separately for marital satisfaction and QOL along with demographic details followed by appropriate statistical analysis. A high level of marital distress found amongst both patients and their spouses whereas only patients reported poor QOL. Increasing DUI worsens both marital satisfaction and QOL in spouses with no effects on patients. Illness severity worsens QOL in both groups with no effect on marital satisfaction. Gender was not found to have any impact on either of the groups. Small sample size and cross sectional study design were main limitations. Early and faster intervention will be helpful in patient's prognosis, and also the perception and QOL of spouses. A better treatment response may be expected if focus is at improvement in QOL rather than only symptom control. Further work will be needed with a larger population and in a longitudinal study design. Future research also needs to focus upon establishment of better norms for the DUI for depressive disorder.