What is it about?
The goal of treatment of depression in primary care is the remission of depressive symptoms. In the Chilean health system, there is a specific program to treat depression in primary care. However, there is still no evidence on the natural course and factors associated with the evolution of depression at this level of care in Chile. This article is a one-year naturalistic study that followed 297 patients admitted for treatment for depression in primary care in Chile. Initially, patients were evaluated with a battery of instruments and followed with a scale to assess depressive symptoms.
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Why is it important?
Our results showed that almost 50% of the sample studied did not achieve the remission of depression at 12 months. The psychiatric comorbidities, the history of childhood trauma, the suicidal tendency and the history of previous treatment were the factors associated with a worse outcome. These factors need more recognition and a better approach in primary care.
Perspectives
The clinical guidelines for the treatment of depression offer recommendations based mainly on the recognition of depressed symptoms according to Diagnoses Systems. On the other hand, it is known that neither biographical trauma nor psychiatric comorbidities are adequately inquired about when subjects consult for depression in primary care.The findings of this study indicate that other strategies aimed at improving the recognition of these clinical and psychosocial factors in depressed patients should be incorporated.
Veronica Vitriol
Universidad de Talca
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Remission in Depression and Associated Factors at Different Assessment Times in Primary Care in Chile, Clinical Practice and Epidemiology in Mental Health, March 2018, Bentham Science Publishers,
DOI: 10.2174/1745017901814010078.
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