Table 2

Symptoms severity and relative risk of psychological distress for each complaints group

No complaint n=1780 (22.5%)Past complaint n=3889 (49.1%)Recent/current complaint n=2257 (28.5%)Total n=7926 (100%)Relative risk for past complaint group/mean difference (95% CI)Relative risk for recent complaint group/mean difference (95% CI)
Depression (PHQ-9)
 Mean (SD)*3.7 (4.3)3.4 (4.2)5.1 (5.6)3.9 (4.7)−0.3 (−0.6 to −0.0)1.4 (1.1 to 1.7)
 Moderate to severe depression n (%)169 (9.5%)303 (7.8%)381 (16.9%)852 (10.8%)0.81 (0.65 to 1.01)1.77 (1.48 to 2.13)
Thoughts of ‘self-harm’ n (%)83 (4.7%)221 (5.7%)218 (9.7%)522 (6.6%)1.22 (0.93 to 1.61)2.08 (1.61 to 2.68)
Anxiety (GAD-7)
 Mean (SD)†3.1 (3.8)3.0 (3.8)4.5 (4.9)3.5 (4.2)−0.1 (−0.4 to 0.2)1.4 (1.1 to 1.7)
 Moderate to severe anxiety n (%)131 (7.3%)234 (6.0%)338 (15.0%)703 (8.9%)0.80 (0.57 to 1.13)2.08 (1.61 to 2.68)
  • The analysis following multiple imputation of missing values results in non-integer numbers of patients. We rounded these to integer values, but report the percentage and relative risk as provided by the analysis. As a consequence, there may be slight discrepancies between the percentages, relative risks and the reported patient numbers.

  • *The PHQ-9 depression scale ranges from 0 to 27. A score below 5 indicates absence of depression, a score between 5 and 9 indicates mild depression, a score between 10 and 14 indicates moderate depression, a score between 15 and 19 indicates moderately severe depression and a score above 19 indicates severe depression.

  • †The GAD-7 anxiety scale ranges from 0 to 21. A score below 5 indicates minimal anxiety, a score between 5 and 9 indicates mild anxiety, a score between 10 and 14 indicates moderate anxiety and a score of 15 or above indicates severe anxiety.

  • GAD-7, Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7; PHQ-9, Physical Health Questionnaire-9.