title: Primary care physicians' and psychiatrists' approaches to treating mild depression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To measure how primary care physicians (PCPs) and psychiatrists treat mild depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed a national sample of US PCPs and psychiatrists using a vignette of a 52-year-old man with depressive symptoms not meeting Major Depressive Episode criteria. Physicians were asked how likely they were to recommend an antidepressant counseling, combined medication, and counseling or to make a psychiatric referral.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Response rate was 896/1427 PCPs and 312/487 for psychiatrists. Compared with PCPs, psychiatrists were more likely to recommend an antidepressant (70% vs. 56%), counseling (86% vs. 54%), or the combination of medication and counseling (61% vs. 30%). More psychiatrists (44%) than PCPs (15%) were 'very likely' to promote psychiatric referral. PCPs who frequently attended religious services were less likely (than infrequent attenders) to refer the patient to a psychiatrist (12% vs. 18%); and more likely to recommend increased involvement in meaningful relationships/activities (50% vs. 41%) and religious community (33% vs. 17%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychiatrists treat mild depression more aggressively than PCPs. Both are inclined to use antidepressants for patients with mild depression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA. rlawrence@uchicago.edu
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Rasinski
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Yoon
authors.forename: K G
authors.initials: KG
authors.lastname: Meador
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Koenig
authors.forename: F A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Curlin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003376:Counseling / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058007:Physicians, Primary Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents