Profession
Study: More effort needed to treat depression in primary care setting
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Sept. 24, 2007
Primary care doctors miss the mark about half the time on clinical practice guidelines on depression, according to a new study examining 45 physician practices in 13 states caring for more than 1,000 patients.
The study, led by researchers at RAND Health and published in the September Annals of Internal Medicine, found that physicians stuck to guidelines more than 80% of the time on six of 20 depression metrics, including initial diagnosis and patient education. But doctors delivered the right care less than half the time on 10 other measures, such as managing alcohol abuse and suicide risk and adjusting treatment for patients who did not respond to initial regimens. Scores ranged in the middle on four other measures.
Study authors also concluded that patients who received higher quality care showed fewer symptoms of depression up to two years after starting treatment. "Most cases of depression are diagnosed and treated in primary care settings," said Lisa V. Rubenstein, MD, MSPH, the study's senior author and an internist at Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
"This shows that additional efforts are needed to improve the treatment of depression."
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/09/24/prbf0924.htm.