Methods for Incorporating Patient Preferences for Treatments of Depression in Community Mental Health Settings.

We developed three methods (rating, ranking, and discrete choice) for identifying patients' preferred depression treatments based on their prioritization of specific treatment attributes (e.g., medication side effects, psychotherapy characteristics) at treatment intake. Community mental health patients with depressive symptoms participated in separate studies of predictive validity (N = 193) and short-term (1-week) stability (N = 40). Patients who received non-preferred initial treatments (based on the choice method) switched treatments significantly more often than those who received preferred initial treatments. Receiving a non-preferred treatment at any point (based on rating and choice methods) was a significant predictor of longer treatment duration. All three methods demonstrated good short-term stability.