Primary Care Docs Diagnosing Depression

Anxiety, sadness and temporary depression can understandably accompany the diagnosis of breast cancer. However, while such depression is highly treatable, its symptoms are all-too-often overlooked.

Now, researchers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) believe they have developed an inexpensive program that trains primary care providers to identify and properly address depression in their patients-resulting in a significant reduction in their emotional recovery time.

The study's two-year data were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Forty-six primary care clinics in six managed care organizations participated in the study. The research team, led by Michael Schoenbaum, Ph.D., randomly assigned the clinics to conduct depression care as they usually would, or to participate in one of two interventions. These intervention programs offered training to clinicians, patients and nurses, and provided them with resources to obtain effective medication or psychotherapy for depression.

Over the study period, the researchers identified 1,356 patients with current depression through screening 27,332 consecutive patients.

The program reduced the duration of participating patients' depression by well over a month. The training program cost less than $500 per patient and increased the time that the depressed patients spent employed during that two-year period by about four workweeks.

"This study shows that reducing the suffering that depression brings to nearly 19 million Americans a year, in a cost-effective way, is an achievable goal," said NIMH Director Dr. Steven E. Hyman in response to the findings.

SOURCES:

Journal of the American Medical Association, September 19, 2001; 286:1325-1330
National Institutes of Mental Health (www.nci.nih.gov)

[Table of Contents] [Archived Issues / Search] [The Breast Center]