ArticleBMC health services research2022
Depression in primary care and the role of evidence-based guidelines: cross-sectional data from primary care physicians in Germany.
Article in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Barriers and facilitators of adherence to clinical practice guidelines in Germany-A systematic review.Journal of evaluation in clinical practice · 2025Pooled it
- Well-functioning depression care collaboration: general practitioners' experiences with specialized mental health services.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2026Article
- Managing patients with mental health conditions in family medicine: a qualitative study exploring the experiences of general practitioners' experiences in Switzerland.Family practice · 2026Article
- Optimizing antidepressant use in geriatric depression: expert consensus from French societies of geriatrics, old age psychiatry, and clinical pharmacy (SFGG, SF3PA, and SFPC).European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Article
- Primary Care Physicians' Experiences with Integrated Mental Health Specialist Video Consultations-A Normalization Process Theory-Based Mixed-Methods Evaluation.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Management of depression in primary care in Catalonia: a mixed-method study.BMC psychiatry · 2026Observational
- Utilization of clinical practice guidelines and interprofessional collaboration in depression management in Swiss primary care: a cross-sectional survey study among primary care physicians.BMC primary care · 2025Article
- [How to overcome barriers to care with digital health applications (DiGA)? A review of the patient pathway for unipolar depression].Bundesgesundheitsblatt, Gesundheitsforschung, Gesundheitsschutz · 2025Review
- Clinical pharmacist prescriber in primary care in Slovenia: prospective non-randomised interventional study focused on clinical outcomes and quality of life.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Pharmacist prescriber implementation in the experiences of general practitioners, pharmacist prescribers and patients: qualitative study based on pilot trial in Slovenia.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Article
- Case Report: Clinical pharmacist prescriber in depression treatment in primary care settings: clinical case focused on prescribing practice.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study of the Prevalence and Determinants of Common Mental Health Problems in Primary Care in Switzerland.International journal of public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDepression is the most common mental health burden worldwide. Primary care physicians (PCPs) play a key role in the care provision for people with depression. The first objective of the present study was to examine the health care situation of depression in primary care, focusing on the cooperation between PCPs and mental health specialists. Secondly, we aimed at examining the role of the German S3 Guideline for Unipolar Depression in the primary care provision.
methodsData of N = 75 PCPs were analysed from a cross-sectional online survey. Analysis of descriptive information on the current status of primary health care and depression was conducted. Further, to examine factors that are related to the usage of guidelines, multiple regression was performed.
resultsOnly 22.1% of PCPs described the quality of cooperation with ambulatory mental health specialist as good. The most frequent problems in the cooperation were of structural nature (49.3%, long waiting list, few therapy units, as well as barriers in the communication and the information exchange). With regard to the role of the guideline, 65% of PCPs reported never or seldom using the guideline and 31.7% of PCPs perceived the guideline as not useful at all. In addition, perceived usefulness of the S3 guideline was positively associated with the usage of the guideline. Results of the logistic regression revealed a significant association between the usage of the German S3 Guideline for Unipolar Depression and rating of perceived usefulness of the guideline (OR: 4.771; 95% CI: 2.15-10.59; p < 0.001).
conclusionThis study highlights the central role of PCPs and demonstrates major barriers in the outpatient health care provision of depression. Present findings suggest a strong need for collaborative health care models to resolve obstacles resulting from fragmented mental health care systems. Finally, reported perceived barriers in the implementation of the German S3 Guideline for Unipolar Depression indicate the urge to involve PCPs in the development of evidence-based guidelines, in order to ensure a successful implementation and usage of guidelines in clinical practice.
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