Treatment for depression following the 1996 National Depression Screening Day.
OBJECTIVE
Characteristics of the subsequent treatment received by people who screened positive for depression in the 1996 National Depression Screening Day were investigated.


METHODS
A follow-up telephone survey was completed by 1,502 randomly selected participants from 2,800 sites.


RESULTS
Of 927 people for whom additional evaluation was recommended, 602 (64.9%) obtained evaluations and 503 (83.6%) received treatment. Of these 503, 260 (51.7%) received psychotherapy and medication, 130 (25.8%) received medication only, and 93 (18.5%) received psychotherapy only. Compared with people without health or mental health insurance, individuals with health insurance (66.7% versus 57.5%) and mental health insurance (74.6% versus 55.3%) were more likely to comply with the recommendation to obtain follow-up evaluation.


CONCLUSIONS
One-half of the people treated for depression received a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Lack of insurance was associated with not following the recommendation to obtain further evaluation and treatment.
Greenfield
S F
SF
Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. shelly_greenfield@hms.harvard.edu
Reizes
J M
JM
Muenz
L R
LR
Kopans
B
B
Kozloff
R C
RC
Jacobs
D G
DG
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002170:Canada; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007358:Insurance, Psychiatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011613:Psychotherapy; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012737:Sex Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000928:Antidepressive Agents