Personality disorder and the outcome of depression: Meta-analysis of published studies

BACKGROUND: There is conflicting evidence about the influence of personality disorder on outcome in depressive disorders. AIMS: Meta-analysis of studies in which a categorical assessment of personality disorder or no personality disorder was made in people with depressive disorders, and categorical outcome (recovered/not recovered) also determined. METHOD: Systematic electronic search of the literature for relevant publications. Hand searches of Journal of Affective Disorders and recent reviews, with subsequent meta-analysis of selected studies. RESULTS: Comorbid personality disorder with depression was associated with a doubling of the risk of a poor outcome for depression compared with no personality disorder (random effects model OR=2.18, 95% CI 1.70-2.80), a robust finding maintained with only Hamilton-type depression criteria at outcome (OR=2.20, 95% CI 1.61-3.01). All treatments apart from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) showed this poor outcome, and the ECT group was small. CONCLUSIONS: Combined depression and personality disorder is associated with a poorer outcome than depression alone.