The Impact of Comorbid Depression on Adherence to Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis

Table 3

Patient characteristics: MS patients treated with antidepressants for at least 6 months compared to MS patients treated with antidepressants for less than 6 months.

Characteristic	Treated less than guidelines (𝑁=71)		Treated according to guidelines (𝑁=71)		𝜒^2 statistic	𝑃 value
	𝑁	%	𝑁	%
Characteristics matched on
Age					N/A	N/A
<35	5	7.04	5	7.04
35–44	17	23.94	17	23.94
45–54	32	45.07	32	45.07
55–64	17	23.94	17	23.94
65+	0	0	0	0
Sex					N/A	N/A
Male	1	1.41	1	1.41
Female	70	98.59	70	98.59
Region					N/A	N/A
Northeast	5	7.04	5	7.04
North Central	21	29.58	21	29.58
South	30	42.25	30	42.25
West	15	21.13	15	21.13
Unknown	0	0	0	0
Year of index date					N/A	N/A
2004	6	8.45	6	8.45
2005	17	23.94	17	23.94
2006	15	21.13	15	21.13
2007	28	39.44	28	39.44
2008	5	7.04	5	7.04
ITT DMT					N/A	N/A
Avonex	11	15.49	11	15.49
Betaseron	3	4.23	3	4.23
Copaxone	44	61.97	44	61.97
Rebif	13	18.31	13	18.31
Tysabri	0	9	0	9
Other characteristics
Insurance status
Comprehensive	6	8.45	6	8.45	N/A	N/A
Health maintenance org	16	22.54	10	14.08	1.70	0.193
Point-of-service	10	14.08	6	8.45	1.13	0.288
Preferred provider org	39	54.93	45	63.38	1.05	0.306
Other	0	0	4	5.63	4.12	0.043
Copayment with ITT drug	61	85.92	54	76.06	2.24	0.134
Mail order for ITT drug	23	32.39	22	30.99	0.03	0.857
Preperiod Charlson score
0	45	63.38	40	56.34	0.73	0.392
1-2	20	28.17	26	36.62	1.16	0.282
3+	6	8.45	5	7.04	0.09	0.754
Preperiod disability proxies
Muscoloskeletal	46	64.79	48	67.61	0.13	0.723
Medical	35	49.30	42	59.15	1.39	0.238