Treatments less effective among certain groups.(depression)

2002 MAR 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Recovering from depression may be tougher for certain groups of patients: elderly women, the less educated, those with neurotic traits and the medically ill, according to a new study.

"It is essential to develop and test active treatments for depression that will be more effective in these populations," said lead study author Wayne Katon, MD, of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

"Treatments involving longer-term and more intensive specialty mental health treatment may be necessary," he added.

Katon and colleagues studied nearly 300 depressed individuals ranging in age from 18 to 90. All had experienced symptoms of depression for at least 2 years. The researchers treated the study participants in one of three ways: with an antidepressant medication called paroxetine, problem-solving therapy or a placebo.

At the end of the 11-week study period, approximately 48% of the study participants were still suffering from depression, while 52% had responded positively to treatment. The nonresponders tended to be elderly women or to be individuals with low education levels, more severe medical illnesses or high neuroticism scores, the researchers found.

The study results are published in the current issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry. Another study finding was that females had a significantly higher response to the placebo treatment compared with males. Since this finding is not consistent with previous study findings, it should be interpreted with caution, the authors said.

The researchers called the finding that elderly women were less responsive to treatment intriguing. More than 70% of the younger female participants recovered from depression by the end of the study period, compared with just 37% of the older females, according to the study.