Health
Patients who choose their own depression therapy do better
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 3, 2005
People who are depressed and decide on their own treatment improve more rapidly than those whose regimen is chosen by the physician alone, according to a study in the October Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Researchers at the Dept. of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System assessed the preferences of 335 adults presenting to a primary care clinic. Depression was assessed at three and nine months.
Nearly three-quarters received the treatment they preferred, and this was associated with a greater improvement in their disease.
The authors suggest that patient agreement could be an important factor to consider and suspect that some of the improvement might be related to the fact that those who agree with the recommended treatment are more likely to adhere to it.
"The good news is that depression improved for patients in both groups," said Edmund F. Chaney, PhD, one of the authors and a psychologist at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. "Although we can't say for certain, it might be that the preference-matched patients were better able to stick with the treatment plan."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/10/03/hlbf1003.htm.
