Treatment of depression for patients with multiple sclerosis in neurology clinics.
The objective of this study was to examine the adequacy of antidepressant pharmacotherapy in a sample of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) treated by neurologists.


METHODS
MS patients under the care of neurologists were recruited from a large health maintenance organization. Major depressive disorder (MDD) was diagnosed using a structured telephone interview. Antidepressant treatment data were obtained from the HMO pharmacy database.


RESULTS
Study participants included 260 patients with MS treated by 35 neurologists. A total of 67 (25.8%) patients met the criteria for MDD. Among the patients with MDD, 65.6% received no antidepressant medication, 4.7% received subthreshold doses from their neurologists, 26.6% received doses at threshold, and 3.1% received doses exceeding threshold.


CONCLUSIONS
Depression was undertreated by the neurologists treating this sample of patients with comorbid MS and MDD. Potential solutions are discussed.
Mohr
D C
DC
University of California, Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Francisco 94121, USA. dmohr@itsa.ucsf.edu
Hart
S L
SL
Fonareva
I
I
Tasch
E S
ES
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006748:Hospital Departments; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009462:Neurology
D000928:Antidepressive Agents