Identification and treatment of masked depression in a general medical practice.
The usefulness of the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale as a screening instrument to uncover masked depression, and the benefits of early identification and treatment with alprazolam, were evaluated in a general medical practice population. There was a 95% scale acceptance by patients and a 12% overall prevalence of depression based on SDS results. Patients who scored in the depressed range on the SDS were, on a randomized basis, either identified immediately to their physicians and treated with alprazolam (N = 21) or identified after 4 weeks (natural history controls, N = 20). Treatment resulted in improvement in 66% of the identified group versus a 35% spontaneous improvement in the control group (p less than .05).
D000368:Aged; D000525:Alprazolam; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology; D005194:Family Practice; D006801:Humans; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012107:Research Design
D001569:Benzodiazepines; D000525:Alprazolam