The DOI matches its Crossref record; 51 of the 51 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Treatment of Adult Depression in the United States
Open accessAbstract
IMPORTANCE: Despite recent increased use of antidepressants in the United States, concerns persist that many adults with depression do not receive treatment, whereas others receive treatments that do not match their level of illness severity. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the treatment of adult depression in the United States. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Analysis of screen-positive depression, psychological distress, and depression treatment data from 46 417 responses to the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys taken in US households by participants aged 18 years or older in 2012 and 2013. MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES: Percentages of adults with screen-positive depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-2 score of ≥ 3) and adjusted odds ratios (AORs) of the effects of sociodemographic characteristics on odds of screen-positive depression; percentages with treatment for screen-positive depression and AORs; percentages with any treatment of depression and AORs stratified by presence of serious psychological distress (Kessler 6 scale score of ≥13); and percentages with depression treatment by health care professional group (psychiatrists, other health care professionals, and general medical providers); and type of depression treatment (antidepressants, psychotherapy, and both) all stratified by distress level. RESULTS: Approximately 8.4% (95% CI, 7.9-8.8) of adults screened positive for depression, of which 28.7% received any depression treatment. Conversely, among all adults treated for depression, 29.9% had screen-positive depression and 21.8% had serious psychological distress. Adults with serious compared with less serious psychological distress who were treated for depression were more likely to receive care from psychiatrists (33.4% vs 17.3%, P < .001) or other mental health specialists (16.2% vs 9.6%, P < .001), and less likely to receive depression care exclusively from general medical professionals (59.0% vs 74.4%, P < .001). They were also more likely to receive psychotherapy (32.5% vs 20.6%, P < .001), though not antidepressant medications (81.1% vs 88.6%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Most US adults who screen positive for depression did not receive treatment for depression, whereas most who were treated did not screen positive. In light of these findings, it is important to strengthen efforts to align depression care with each patient's clinical needs.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The cited source says what the claim attributes to it.
In the citing paper
“The NESARC-III treatment rates are plausible given the extent of direct-toconsumer advertising of antidepressants 83 and widespread distribution through primary care.79”
From Epidemiology of Adult DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder and Its Specifiers in the United States (2018) · cites this paper as [79]
The check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“Approximately 90% of suicides have a current diagnosable psychiatric disorder, most commonly a major depression that was untreated at time of death.(111, 143, 144)”
From Improving Suicide Prevention Through Evidence-Based Strategies: A Systematic Review (2021) · cites this paper as [111]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“The greatest risk of suicidal behavior is after discharge from the emergency room (ER) or hospital inpatient units.(110–112)”
From Improving Suicide Prevention Through Evidence-Based Strategies: A Systematic Review (2021) · cites this paper as [111]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“The greatest risk for repeating a suicide attempt is in the month following an index attempt, and particularly after discharge of a psychiatric patient from an emergency department or inpatient hospital unit.(110–112)”
From Improving Suicide Prevention Through Evidence-Based Strategies: A Systematic Review (2021) · cites this paper as [111]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe check wasn’t confident either way, so it gives no verdict — never disputed.
In the citing paper
“The likelihood of treatment for depression is reduced in those with SUDs.79”
From Epidemiology of Adult DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder and Its Specifiers in the United States (2018) · cites this paper as [79]
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
In the citing paper
“However, there are several previous studies using the MEPS and their results are comparable with results generated from other sources (42–44).”
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
KESSLER, R. C., ANDREWS, G., COLPE, L. J., HIRIPI, E., MROCZEK, D. K., NORMAND, S.-L. T., WALTERS, E. E., & ZASLAVSKY, A. M. (2002) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291702006074 · Cited by 10,327
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., Rush, A. J., Walters, E. E., & Wang, P. S. (2003) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.289.23.3095 · Cited by 7,988
The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: Validity of a Two-Item Depression Screener
Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2003) · Medical Care · doi:10.1097/01.mlr.0000093487.78664.3c · Cited by 6,359
Screening for serious mental illness in the general population
Kessler, R. C., Barker, P. R., Colpe, L. J., Epstein, J. F., Gfroerer, J. C., Hiripi, E., Howes, M. J., Normand, S.-L. T., Manderscheid, R. W., Walters, E. E., et al. (2003) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.60.2.184 · Cited by 5,692
Trivedi, M. H., Rush, A. J., Wisniewski, S. R., Nierenberg, A. A., Warden, D., Ritz, L., Norquist, G., Howland, R. H., Lebowitz, B., McGrath, P. J., et al. (2006) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.163.1.28 · Cited by 3,879
Socioeconomic inequalities in depression: a meta-analysis
Lorant, V. (2003) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/aje/kwf182 · Cited by 2,603
Kirsch, I., Deacon, B. J., Huedo-Medina, T. B., Scoboria, A., Moore, T. J., & Johnson, B. T. (2008) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050045 · Cited by 2,442
Unützer, J., Katon, W., Callahan, C. M., Williams, Jr., Hunkeler, E., Harpole, L., Hoffing, M., Della Penna, R. D., Noël, P. H., Lin, E. H. B., et al. (2002) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.288.22.2836 · Cited by 2,405
Cooney, G. M., Dwan, K., Greig, C. A., Lawlor, D. A., Rimer, J., Waugh, F. R., McMurdo, M., & Mead, G. E. (2013) · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1002/14651858.cd004366.pub6 · Cited by 1,834
Hasin, D. S., Goodwin, R. D., Stinson, F. S., & Grant, B. F. (2005) · Archives of General Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/archpsyc.62.10.1097 · Cited by 1,645
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [35]35. Arean PA, Hegel MT, Reynolds CF. Treatment depression in older medical patients with psychotherapy. J Clin Geropsychol. 2001;7:93-104.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 301–351 of 351
Screening for Depression Through a Glass Darkly
Braillon, A. (2017) · JAMA Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.9284
Novak, P. J., & Chen, J. (2017) · Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research · doi:10.1111/jphs.12182
Rhee, T. G. (2017) · University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy (University of Minnesota)
Bayesian Modeling for Mental Health Surveys
Williams, S. Z. (2018) · doi:10.7916/d8np3mvm
Pedersen, E. R., Kandrack, R., Danz, M., Motala, A., Booth, M. J., Larkin, J., & Hempel, S. (2018) · Rand health quarterly · doi:10.7249/rhq-09-01-06
Transition of depression from childhood to adulthood: What causes it and how does it remains?
Grujičić, R., Pejovic-Milovancevic, M. M., & Miljević, Č. (2018) · Engrami · doi:10.5937/engrami1802040g
Vance, M. M. (2019) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research
Brown, G. D., Malcolm, E. J., & Shah, K. P. (2020) · Journal of General Internal Medicine · doi:10.1007/s11606-020-06086-5
Non-pharmaceutical Therapy for Depression
Xu, R. (2021) · E3S Web of Conferences · doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202127103079
Bossarte, R. M., Kessler, R. C., Nierenberg, A. A., Cuijpers, P. J., Enrique, Á., Foxworth, P. M., Gildea, S. M., Belnap, B. H., Haut, M. W., Law, K. B., et al. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-452029/v1
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in the Perinatal Period
Ganho-Ávila, A., Guiomar, R., & Pacheco, F. (2021) · Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-76136-3_16
Climate Change and Mental Health
Clark, T., & Zolnikov, T. R. (2020) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-32811-5_2-2
Efficacy of Virtual Care for Depressive Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Preprint)Preprint
Schiller, C. E., Prim, J., Bauer, A. E., Lux, L. J., Lundegard, L. C., Kang, M., Hellberg, S. N., Thompson, K. A., Webber, T. K., Teklezghi, A. T., et al. (2022) · doi:10.2196/preprints.38955
Comparison of Telebehavioral Health Outcomes from Rural Populations Across AmericaPreprint
McCord, C., Ullrich, F. A., Merchant, K. A. S., Bhagianadh, D., Nelson, E., Marcin, J. P., Law, K. B., Neufeld, J. D., Giovanetti, A. K., Ward, M. M., et al. (2022) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-1808717/v1
Vadiei, N., Le, A., López, A., Ponciano, A., & Smiley, D. (2023) · Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice · doi:10.1177/10781552231168598
Depressão em adultos do Brasil: custos, perfil dos atendimentos e cobertura presumida dos CAPS
Mercedes, B. P. D. C. (2023) · Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (Universidade de São Paulo) · doi:10.11606/t.22.2023.tde-02062023-145443
The Hidden Costs of Mental Depression: Implications on Social Trust and Life Satisfaction
Qin, X., & Hsieh, C. (2023) · Applied economics and policy studies · doi:10.1007/978-981-99-4209-1_4
Overview and Improvement Path of Adolescent Mental Health Literacy
李, 豪. (2023) · Advances in Social Sciences · doi:10.12677/ass.2023.1211845
A new deal for dynamic psychotherapies: The psychoanalyst as street‐level bureaucrat
Clarke, J. C. (2023) · International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies · doi:10.1002/aps.1848
Downing, M. L., Hydzik, M., Dogbey, G. Y., & Motyka, T. M. (2023) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.50667
Delivery of bright light therapy within the Veterans Health Administration
Reis, D. J., Schneider, A. L., King, S. E., Forster, J. E., & Bahraini, N. H. (2023) · Journal of Affective Disorders · doi:10.1016/j.jad.2023.12.049
Zhang, Q., Sui, Y., Lin, F.-H., Guan, H., Li, L., Wang, K., Huang, Z., & Neitzel, A. J. (2024) · doi:10.2196/preprints.67953
Crowe, M., Jordan, J., Porter, R., Douglas, K. M., Lacey, C. J., Thwaites, B., & Sillifant, B. (2025) · Counselling and Psychotherapy Research · doi:10.1002/capr.12906 · Cited by 1
Schurr, M. S., Chen, Y. T., Raue, P. J., Areán, P. A., Alexopoulos, G. S., & Renn, B. N. (2025) · The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry Open Science Education and Practice · doi:10.1016/j.osep.2025.04.002
Liu, Y. (2025) · Applied and Computational Engineering · doi:10.54254/2755-2721/2025.po23118
Correlation of the nutritional risk index with depression and suicidal ideation
Shen, L.-T., Ge, M., Hu, F., Jia, Y., Tang, W. H., Zhang, W., Zhang, W., & Chen, H. (2025) · Current Psychology · doi:10.1007/s12144-025-07961-2
Task sharing: transfer of knowledge from thrive NYC to the Scottish context
Cameron, J., & Tosatti, E. (2025) · Journal of Public Mental Health · doi:10.1108/jpmh-03-2025-0037
Savitz, S. T., Stevens, M. A., Nath, B., D’Onofrio, G., Melnick, E. R., & Jeffery, M. M. (2025) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/66596
Unmet need for depression treatment before and after the affordable care act
Hagen, D., Goldmann, E., Schwartz, R. M., & Moline, J. M. (2025) · Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology · doi:10.1007/s00127-025-03000-4
Ravenelle, R., Deng, S., Nelson, M., Pedersen, M. H., Mendez‐David, I., David, D. J. P., Luna, V. M., Turi, G. F., Abramson, M., Javitch, J. A., et al. (2025) · bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · doi:10.1101/2025.10.08.680712
Weng, Z., Huang, J., Lian, F., Yang, J., Gong, C., & Xu, X. (2025) · Nordic Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1080/08039488.2025.2595053
Liu, L., Yan, Y., Qiu, J., Chen, Q., Zhang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhong, X., Liu, Y., & Tan, R. (2023) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.22624999
Gellert, P., Beyer, A.-K., Tegeler, C., Vathke, C., Nordheim, J., Kuhlmey, A., & Kessler, E.-M. (2021) · Figshare · doi:10.6084/m9.figshare.13655302
Levis, M., Dimambro, M., Levy, J., & Shiner, B. R. (2026) · Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research · doi:10.1007/s10488-026-01495-w
Zhang, Z., Li, F., Han, C., 宋文坤, & Pu, S. (2026) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1870361
WU, M., Li, A., Meng, K., Yi, Y., Zhang, Z., Shi, C., He, Y., Ouyang, X., Tan, C., & Wan, X. (2026) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-026-04982-x
Marcus, S. C., Bowden, C. F., Lynch, K. G., & Olfson, M. (2026) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2026-121721
Self-citationEngagement and Outcomes Associated With Message-Based Psychotherapy Among Older and Younger Adults
Renn, B. N., Peake, E. E., Brody, L. A., Padmanabhan, A., & Raue, P. J. (2026) · American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.jagp.2026.06.016
Liu, X., Lin, T.-F., Jiang, Y.-W., Luo, S., Chen, S., Chai, Y., Yang, Z. L., Wei, Y., Wang, H., Li, X., et al. (2026) · Psychological Medicine · doi:10.1017/s0033291726104942
Hawk, L. W., Schnoll, R. A., Dahne, J., Carpenter, M. J., Cropsey, K. L., Wilding, G. E., Duerr, C., Allen, C. G., Nghiem, V. T., Shelton, R. C., et al. (2026) · Trials · doi:10.1186/s13063-026-09910-1
Introduction générale : troubles psychiatriques et risque suicidaire
Courtet, P., & Olié, É. (2025) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-2-294-78794-2.00017-8
Millar, C. L., Chopra, M. P., Morgan, X. C., Green, E. A., Wolfe, A., Pierce, K. A., Gao, L., Blesso, C. N., Dufour, A. B., Kiel, D. P., et al. (2026) · The journal of nutrition health & aging · doi:10.1016/j.jnha.2026.100958
Therapie und Prävention psychischer Störungen
Hengartner, M. P. (2026) · Angewandte Psychologie Kompakt · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-72845-1_5
Substance Use is Not Associated with Antidepressant Response to Transcranial Magnetic StimulationPreprint
Chesley, J., Biernacki, K., Vanleuven, J., Doran, J., Yazgan, I., Yildiz, G., González, D. M., Wagner, S. Y., LeBaron, K., Marrero, E., et al. (2026) · medRxiv · doi:10.64898/2026.09.01.26361949
Tetlow, S. M., & Druss, B. G. (2026) · JAMA Health Forum · doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2026.3759
Bond, L., Saggar, K., Ho, Y. X., Lewis, D.-M., Pillai, S., Vargas-Vilugron, M., Miller, B. F., & Naslund, J. A. (2026) · doi:10.2196/preprints.115028
Patterns of depression screening, referral, and behavioral health follow-up after orthopaedic trauma
Reddy, S., Cahill, M., Schimizzi, G. V., Fram, B. R., Erdman, M. K., & Christiano, A. V. (2026) · Injury · doi:10.1016/j.injury.2026.113782
Metadata
- Authors
- Olfson, M., Blanco, C., & Marcus, S. C.
- Affiliations
- New York State Psychiatric Institute (US)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Olfson, Mark
- Venue
- JAMA Internal Medicine
- Publisher
- American Medical Association (AMA)
- Published
- 2016-10-01
- Volume
- 176
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1482
- ISSN
- 2168-6106 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2516765934
- Cited by
- 352
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 34 · 2024: 21 · 2023: 40 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 48 · 2020: 48 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 40 · 2017: 36
- FWCI
- 58.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- JAMA Internal Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- National Institute on Drug Abuse
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Disorders
- Keywords
- adult depression, depression treatment, antidepressants, psychotherapy, serious psychological distress, underdiagnosis of depression, access to mental health care, psychiatrists, sociodemographic disparities, United States adults, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, Patient Health Questionnaire, Kessler 6 scale, mental health service utilization
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antidepressive Agents, Depression, Drug Utilization, Educational Status, Female, Humans, Male, Mass Screening, Middle Aged, Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, Stress, Psychological, Antipsychotic Agents, Anti-Anxiety Agents, United States, Medically Uninsured, Marital Status, Insurance Coverage, Health Care Surveys, Young Adult, General Practitioners
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
