BACKGROUND: There is a mismatch between the wish of a patient with depression to have counselling and the prescription of antidepressants by the doctor. AIMS: To determine whether counselling is as effective as antidepressants for depression in primary care and whether allowing patients to choose their treatment affects their response. METHOD: A partially randomised preference trial, with patients randomised to either antidepressants or counselling or given their choice of either treatment. The treatment and follow-up were identical in the randomised and patient preference arms. RESULTS: There were 103 randomised and 220 preference patients in the trial. We found: no differences in the baseline characteristics of the randomised and preference groups; that the two treatments were equally effective at 8 weeks, both for the randomised group and when the randomised and patient preference groups for a particular treatment were combined; and that expressing a preference for either treatment conferred no additional benefit on outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These data challenge several assumptions about the most appropriate treatment for depression in a primary care setting.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: There is a mismatch between the wish of a patient with depression to have counselling and the prescription of antidepressants by the doctor. AIMS: To determine whether counselling is as effective as antidepressants for depression in primary care and whether allowing patients to choose their treatment affects their response. METHOD: A partially randomised preference trial, with patients randomised to either antidepressants or counselling or given their choice of either treatment. The treatment and follow-up were identical in the randomised and patient preference arms. RESULTS: There were 103 randomised and 220 preference patients in the trial. We found: no differences in the baseline characteristics of the randomised and preference groups; that the two treatments were equally effective at 8 weeks, both for the randomised group and when the randomised and patient preference groups for a particular treatment were combined; and that expressing a preference for either treatment conferred no additional benefit on outcome. CONCLUSIONS: These data challenge several assumptions about the most appropriate treatment for depression in a primary care setting.
Authors: Benjamin W Van Voorhees; Joshua Fogel; Thomas K Houston; Lisa A Cooper; Nae-Yuh Wang; Daniel E Ford Journal: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol Date: 2006-08-01 Impact factor: 4.328
Authors: Allison J Applebaum; Wendy G Lichtenthal; Hayley A Pessin; Julia N Radomski; N Simay Gökbayrak; Aviva M Katz; Barry Rosenfeld; William Breitbart Journal: Psychooncology Date: 2011-07-12 Impact factor: 3.894
Authors: Chizobam Ani; Mohsen Bazargan; David Hindman; Douglas Bell; Michael Rodriguez; Richard S Baker Journal: J Am Board Fam Med Date: 2009 Mar-Apr Impact factor: 2.657