To evaluate the effect of kidney-tonifying and qi-regulating therapy on the 2-year recurrence rate of depressive disorder with kidney deficiency and liver depression syndrome.Methods:Patients with depressive disorder characterized by kidney deficiency and liver depression syndrome were recruited from 13 sub-centers in China between January 2017 and April 2018.According to the treatment they received，patients were naturally divided into a traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) group，an integrated TCM and Western medicine group，and a Western Medicine group.The recurrence rates of the three groups were compared.Additionally，based on the duration of intervention，the TCM and integrated groups were divided into low，medium，and high exposure levels，and the recurrence rates at different levels were compared to evaluate the long-term effect of the kidney-tonifying and qi-regulating therapy in reducing the recurrence rate of depressive disorder with kidney deficiency and liver depression syndrome.Results:A total of 1 314 patients with depressive disorder characterized by kidney deficiency and liver depression syndrome were included，with 385 in the TCM group，453 in the Western medicine group，and 476 in the integrated group.The 2-year recurrence rates for the TCM，Western medicine，and integrated groups were 23.61%，34.97%，and 18.14%，respectively.The TCM group had a 29.2% lower risk of recurrence compared to the Western medicine group(P<0.05)，and the integrated group had a 45.5% lower risk of recurrence compared to the Western medicine group(P<0.001).Using low TCM exposure time(TCM-ET) as a reference in the TCM group，high TCM-ET significantly reduced the risk of recurrence by 81.4%(P<0.01).In the integrated group，compared to low TCM-ET，medium TCM-ET reduced the risk of recurrence by 46.9%(P<0.05)，and high TCM-ET reduced the risk by 65.3%(P<0.01).Conclusion:Kidney-tonifying and qi-regulating therapy can reduce the long-term recurrence rate of depressive disorder with kidney deficiency and liver depression syndrome.There is a close relationship between the level of TCM intervention exposure and the recurrence rate，with longer exposure levels significantly reducing the recurrence rate.