Characterisation of depressive symptoms in people with MS: do they differ from depression in people without MS?

There is overlap between depressive symptom and MS symptoms, such as fatigue, altered sleep patterns, appetite changes, impaired memory and concentration. Further, a potential difference in presentation of depressive symptoms in people with MS has been reported, characterised by greater irritability, anger and anxiety, compared to otherwise medically healthy people with depression, although supporting data is limited. Understanding the presentation of depression is important to improve its detection and treatment. This research will characterise the depressive symptom profile in people with MS compared to depressive symptoms in people without MS, to identify differences in presentation requiring patient and clinician information and education. This will be undertaken by administering depressive symptom inventories to people with MS and people without MS (both with and without clinically significant depressive symptoms), using scales that measure symptoms of depression, irritability, anger and anxiety. Statistical techniques such as descriptive and cluster analysis will be used to characterise depression in people with MS.