Melancholic features of depression (MFD) seem to be a unidimensional group of signs and symptoms. However, little importance has been given to the evaluation of what features are related to a more severe disorder. That is, what are the MFD that appear only in the most depressed patients. We aim to demonstrate how each MFD is related to the severity of the major depressive disorder.

We evaluated both the Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS-17) and its 6-item melancholic subscale (HAM-D6) in 291 depressed inpatients using Rasch analysis, which computes the severity of each MFD. Overall measures of model fit were mean (±SD) of items and persons residual=0 (±1); low χ² value; P>0.01.

For the HDRS–17 model fit, mean (±SD) of item residuals=0.35 (±1.4); mean (±SD) of person residuals =–0.15 (±1.09); χ²=309.74; P<0.00001. For the HAM-D6 model fit, mean (±SD) of item residuals=0.5 (±0.86); mean (±SD) of person residuals=0.15 (±0.91); χ²=56.13; P=0.196. MFD ordered by crescent severity were depressed mood, work and activities, somatic symptoms, psychic anxiety, guilt feelings, and psychomotor retardation.

Depressed mood is less severe, while guilt feelings and psychomotor retardation are more severe MFD in a psychiatric hospitalization. Understanding depression, as a continuum of symptoms can improve the understanding of the disorder and may improve its perspective of treatment.