title: [Depression prevention in primary care is not worthwhile].
abstract: An increasing number of prevention programmes are being introduced in primary and secondary care. Patients seldom doubt the usefulness of these programmes, but doctors more frequently do. Primary care programmes for prevention of depression require a high level of effort, but are not very effective: the incidence of new depressive episodes is relatively low, and there is a high percentage of drop-outs from intervention programmes. We need to look critically at the ever increasing expansion of screening and prevention activities in the general practitioner's (GP's) practice, because the fuller the GP's agenda the less time there is for the patient's personal story.
authors.affiliation: Radboudumc, afd. Eerstelijnsgeneeskunde, Nijmegen.
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Olde Hartman
authors.forename: P L B J
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Lucassen
mesh_terms: D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods*