title: Presence of suicidality as a prognostic indicator.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Suicidal symptoms in depression are often thought to predict a higher severity of illness and a worse prognosis.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine if suicidal ideation at the time of treatment for major depression can predict response to antidepressant medication in primary care.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of subjects receiving anti-depressant drugs in a primary care setting
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine depressed patients (14%) who acknowledged suicidality on the PHQ-9 depression scale were followed up for and compared to a group of 54 (86%) depressed patients (controls) who did not have suicidal thoughts for four months. All were given treatment with antidepressants and followed with a disease management protocol where the PHQ-9 was used as a systematic outcome measure.
  
  
  METHODS
  Descriptive measures and t-tests were utilized to show statistical significance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no statistical differences in remission from depressive symptoms based on the PHQ-9 scale after antidepressant treatment, between patients with suicidal thoughts (56%) and those without (44%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of suicidality as a depressive symptom did not predict poorer clinical outcome when treating depression in the primary care setting in the patients studied.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Malhotra
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hameed
mesh_terms: D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013405:Suicide / Q000523:psychology*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents