Improving physicians' recognition and treatment of depression in general medical care. Results from a randomized clinical trial - PubMed (original) (raw)

Clinical Trial

Improving physicians' recognition and treatment of depression in general medical care. Results from a randomized clinical trial

K Magruder-Habib et al. Med Care. 1990 Mar.

Abstract

A randomized clinical trial was performed to assess whether the results of a depression screening instrument, when provided to physicians, could influence their recognition and treatment of depression in a primary care setting. The intervention consisted of randomly informing or not informing physicians of the depression status of 100 patients who screened positively for depression on both the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) and a DSM-III screen. For 12 months patients were followed to assess depression status, and medical records were audited to assess depression recognition and treatment. Results show that feedback to physicians of SDS scores of previously unrecognized depressed patients makes a significant difference in greater recognition (56.2% vs. 34.6%) and treatment (56.2% vs. 42.3%) of depression over the 12-month study period. This was especially true for patients with high somatic (P less than 0.05) or low psychologic symptoms of depression (P less than 0.05). These results suggest that routine use of a depression screening instrument can improve physician recognition of depression, with increased initiation of treatment.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

• Physician-patient agreement about depression: notation in medical records.
  Yager J, Linn LS. Yager J, et al. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 1981 Dec;3(4):271-6. doi: 10.1016/0163-8343(81)90031-1. Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 1981. PMID: 7319221
• The overdiagnosis of depression in non-depressed patients in primary care.
  Aragonès E, Piñol JL, Labad A. Aragonès E, et al. Fam Pract. 2006 Jun;23(3):363-8. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmi120. Epub 2006 Feb 3. Fam Pract. 2006. PMID: 16461446
• Effectiveness of an educational strategy to improve family physicians' detection and management of depression: a randomized controlled trial.
  Worrall G, Angel J, Chaulk P, Clarke C, Robbins M. Worrall G, et al. CMAJ. 1999 Jul 13;161(1):37-40. CMAJ. 1999. PMID: 10420862 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
• Psychological and/or educational interventions for the prevention of depression in children and adolescents.
  Merry S, McDowell H, Hetrick S, Bir J, Muller N. Merry S, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004;(1):CD003380. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003380.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2004. PMID: 14974014 Updated. Review.
• Recognition and differentiation of elderly depression in the clinical setting.
  Reynolds CF 3rd. Reynolds CF 3rd. Geriatrics. 1995 Oct;50 Suppl 1:S6-15. Geriatrics. 1995. PMID: 7493750 Review.

Cited by

• Improving the detection and management of depression in primary care.
  Gilbody SM, Whitty PM, Grimshaw JM, Thomas RE. Gilbody SM, et al. Qual Saf Health Care. 2003 Apr;12(2):149-55. doi: 10.1136/qhc.12.2.149. Qual Saf Health Care. 2003. PMID: 12679514 Free PMC article. Review.
• Effects of a work stress intervention on healthcare use and treatment compared to treatment as usual: a randomised controlled trial in Swedish primary healthcare.
  Sandheimer C, Hedenrud T, Hensing G, Holmgren K. Sandheimer C, et al. BMC Fam Pract. 2020 Jul 6;21(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12875-020-01210-0. BMC Fam Pract. 2020. PMID: 32631243 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
• Analysis of decisions made in meta-analyses of depression screening and the risk of confirmation bias: a case study.
  Goodyear-Smith FA, van Driel ML, Arroll B, Del Mar C. Goodyear-Smith FA, et al. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2012 Jun 12;12:76. doi: 10.1186/1471-2288-12-76. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2012. PMID: 22691262 Free PMC article.
• Routinely administered questionnaires for depression and anxiety: systematic review.
  Gilbody SM, House AO, Sheldon TA. Gilbody SM, et al. BMJ. 2001 Feb 17;322(7283):406-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7283.406. BMJ. 2001. PMID: 11179161 Free PMC article. Review.
• Screening and case finding instruments for depression.
  Gilbody S, House AO, Sheldon TA. Gilbody S, et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005 Oct 19;2005(4):CD002792. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002792.pub2. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005. PMID: 16235301 Free PMC article. Review.

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

• Full Text Sources

  • Ovid Technologies, Inc.