Lessons from recent research on depression in primary care.
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Depression↗
Biomedical subjects
E Ludman
Publications and source records attributed to E Ludman.
Treatment costs, cost offset, and cost-effectiveness of collaborative management of depression.
OBJECTIVE: The report estimates the treatment costs, cost-offset effects, and cost-effectiveness of Collaborative Care of depressive illness in primary care. STUDY DESIGN: Treatment costs, cost-offset effects, and cost-effectiveness were assessed in two randomized, controlled trials. In the first randomized trail (N = 217), consulting psychiatrists provide enhanced management of pharmacotherapy and brief psychoeducational interventions to enhance adherence. In the second randomized trial (N = 153). Collaborative Care was implemented through brief cognitive-behavioral therapy and enhanced patient education. Consulting psychologist provided brief psychotherapy supplemented by educational materials and enhanced pharmacotherapy management. RESULTS: Collaborative Care increased the costs of treating depression largely because of the extra visits required to provide the interventions. There was a modest cost offset due to reduced use of specialty mental health services among Collaborative Care patients, but costs of ambulatory medical care services did not differ significantly between the intervention and control groups. Among patients with major depression there was a modest increase in cost-effectiveness. The cost per patient successfully treated was lower for Collaborative Care than for Usual Care patients. For patients with minor depression. Collaborative Care was more costly and not more cost-effective than Usual Care. CONCLUSIONS: Collaborative Care increased depression treatment costs and improved the cost-effectiveness of treatment for patients with major depression. A cost offset in specialty mental health costs, but not medical care costs, was observed. Collaborative Care may provide a means of increasing the value of treatment services for major depression.
Adult↗
Telephone counseling as an adjunct to antidepressant treatment in the primary care system. A pilot study.
CONTEXT: Many clinical and logistical barriers exist in the primary care model for treating adult depression. OBJECTIVE: To examine the feasibility and clinical effects of a telephone counseling and medication monitoring program for adults starting treatment for depression in primary care. DESIGN: Pilot study with a contemporaneous control group. SETTING: Group Health Cooperative, an HMO serving more than 450,000 persons in western Washington. PATIENTS: Twenty-eight adult primary care patients starting antidepressant treatment (telephone counseling group) were compared with 94 patients receiving usual care (control group). INTERVENTION: Telephone counseling participants received written educational materials addressing depression, followed by six weekly counseling and support sessions delivered over the telephone by a master's-level therapist. The intervention used the transtheoretical model of behavioral change and cognitive-behavioral strategies to enhance self-monitoring, self-management, and coping skills. DATA SOURCES: Telephone interviews and computerized pharmacy and visit records. OUTCOME MEASURES: Participation rate and retention, Hopkins symptom checklist depression scores, medication adherence and dose thresholds, and visits made for depression treatment. RESULTS: Ninety-three percent of telephone counseling participants contacted agreed to participate, and 92% completed the intervention. Telephone counseling patients showed significantly lower depressive symptoms than did control group patients at 3-month follow-up (0.89 vs. 1.13) and 6-month follow-up (0.79 vs. 0.95; P = 0.03). Telephone counseling patients were twice as likely to adhere to antidepressant medication with adequate dose thresholds (25% vs. 13%) and half as likely to meet criteria for major depression than were control group patients across time (8% vs. 16%), although these differences were not statistically significant. Total outpatient visits made for depression treatment between groups across time did not differ. Overall program cost per patient was estimated at about $150. CONCLUSIONS: A telephone counseling and medication monitoring intervention was well accepted by adult patients starting treatment for depression in primary care. The intervention seems to significantly improve depression outcomes without affecting the number of visits for treatment of depression.
Adult↗