Patients who choose depression treatment do better
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Allowing depressed patients to select their own treatment—drug therapy, counseling or a combination of both—may improve outcomes, researchers in Seattle report.
The findings are based on a study of 335 adult with a clinical diagnosis of depression. The subjects were surveyed regarding their preferred therapy and this was compared with the actual treatment received.
Dr. Susan C. Hedrick, from the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, and colleagues, conducted telephone interviews to assess changes in functional status, severity of depression, disability, and other health outcomes at 1 week, 3 months, and 9 months.
Fifteen percent of patients preferred medication alone and these subjects were older and more likely to be white and married compared with the 24 percent who preferred just counseling or the 60 percent who preferred both, the report indicates.
Overall, 72 percent of the subjects received treatment that matched their preference, the investigators report in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
Although depression symptoms improved among patients in both groups, those who received a preferred treatment experienced more rapid improvements than those who received a therapy not matching their preference.
Co-author Dr. Edmund F. Chaney said in a statement: “The positive impact of treatment was more noticeable in the early stages of treatment. Although we can’t say for certain, it might be that the preference-matched patients were better able to stick with the treatment plan in the early stages.”
SOURCE: Annals of Behavioral Medicine, October 2005.
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