In spite of the frequency and the gravity of the depressive episodes, the major depressive disorder (MDD) is diagnosed and treated today insufficiently and the risk factors of its recurrence are little approached.

Describe the socio–demographic, clinical and therapeutic characteristics of patients with MDD and identify the factors involved in the recurrence risk.

This is a retrospective study carried out in the university hospital of Mahdia, Tunisia during two years. We have included patients with a follow up for at least two years and diagnosed with MDD, isolated episode or MDD, recurrent episode according to the DSM-IV-TR criteria. Data collection was performed using two pre-established questionnaires respectively with 51 and 92 items. We have estimated the time to recurrence with the Kaplan-Meier estimator.

We have collected 150 patients. The time to recurrence was 109 months. Five factors were associated with recurrence: early age at onset of the disorder, family history of mood disorders, severity of the index major depressive episode, persistent residual symptoms and ceasing treatment.

Depression is a very common mental illness that is highly recurrent in individuals. There is great interest in the development of strategies that might reduce the recurrence of depression.