ArticleThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners2012
Depression management in primary care: an observational study of management changes related to PHQ-9 score for depression monitoring.
Article in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Prevalence of Antidepressant Prescriptions for Community-Dwelling Adults Diagnosed with Depressive Disorder in the UK: A Systematic Review.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2024Pooled it
- Routine use of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) for improving treatment of common mental health disorders in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2016Pooled it
- Assessing depression severity using the UK Quality and Outcomes Framework depression indicators: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Pooled it
- Instructional Emphasis and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 Scores Among Participants With Anxiety or Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2026Trial
- Patient-reported outcome measures for monitoring primary care patients with depression: the PROMDEP cluster RCT and economic evaluation.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2024Trial
- Patient-reported outcome measures for monitoring primary care patients with depression: PROMDEP feasibility randomised trial.BMJ open · 2017Trial
- Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of telephone-delivered cognitive behavior therapy compared with befriending for treating depression and anxiety in older adults with COPD.International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease · 2016Trial
- Trial
- Comparison between self-administered depression questionnaires and patients' own views of changes in their mood: a prospective cohort study in primary care.Psychological medicine · 2021Article
- Article
- Definition and Identification of Patients with Treatment-Resistant Depression in Real-World Clinical Practice Settings Across Asia.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2020Article
- Role of mHealth in overcoming the occurrence of post-stroke depression.Acta neurologica Scandinavica · 2018Review
- Identification of Depressive Signs in Patients and Their Family Members During iPad-based Audiovisual Sessions.Computers, informatics, nursing : CIN · 2017Article
- The Changes of Psychometric Profiles after Medical Treatment of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms Suggestive of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2015Article
- Use of PHQ-9 scores to guide treatment decisions in primary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2013Article
- Improving the reporting and interpretation of clinical trial outcomes.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2012Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSince 2009 UK GPs have been incentivised to use depression severity scores to monitor patients' response to treatment after 5-12 weeks of treatment.
aimTo examine the association between the severity scores obtained and follow-up questionnaires to monitor depression and subsequent changes made to the treatment of it. DESIGN AND
settingA retrospective cohort study utilising routine primary care records was conducted between April 2009 and March 2011 in 13 general practices recruited from within Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Southampton City primary care trusts.
methodRecords were examined of 604 patients who had received a new diagnosis of depression since 1 April 2009, and who had completed the nine-item depression scale of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) at initial diagnosis and a subsequent PHQ-9 within 6 months. The main outcome measure was the odds ratio (OR) for a change in depression management. Change in management was defined as change in antidepressant drug prescription, dose, or referral.
resultsControlling for the effects of potentially confounding factors, patients who showed an inadequate response in score change at the time of second assessment were nearly five times as likely to experience a subsequent change to treatment in comparison with those who showed an adequate response (OR 4.72, 95% confidence interval = 2.83 to 7.86).
conclusionGPs' decisions to change treatment or to make referrals following a second PHQ-9 appear to be in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence for the monitoring of depression in primary care. Although the present study demonstrates an association between a lack of change in questionnaire scores and treatment changes, the extent to which scores influence choice and whether they are associated with improvements in depression outcomes is an important area for further research.
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