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Cited by 133Mental Health Treatment and AccessTreatment of Major DepressionPrimary Care and Health Outcomes

Treatment of Depression in General Practice

Open access
Johnson, D. A. W.·1973·BMJ
DOI 10.1136/bmj.2.5857.18
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Abstract

With the co-operation of the family doctors in five selected urban general practices the general-practitioner treatment of 73 patients suffering from a new episode of depressive illness was evaluated over a period of four months. The purpose was to test the belief that general practitioners are best fitted to manage most psychological ailments, and depression was chosen as the psychiatric illness most commonly seen in general practice. Medication was the principal treatment offered, and this was often inadequate in dosage or the patient defaulted. Drug defaulting was thought to be due partly to failure of supervision and follow-up and to too low a consultation rate. The low consultation rate was also thought to explain why few patients thought there was a therapeutic value in the doctor-patient relationship. The results of the study indicate that patients with depressive illness do not receive the best treatment in general practice. The reasons are several and responsibility must be shared by the medical practitioners, the current system of the general practice, and the patients themselves.

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  • Compliance with antidepressant treatment is often poor: between 20% and 59% of patients in primary care stop taking antidepressants within three weeks of the drugs being prescribed.

    “Compliance with antidepressant treatment is often poor: studies have shown that between 20% and 59% of patients in primary care stop taking antidepressants within three weeks of the drugs being prescribed. 1 2”

    From The effectiveness of exercise as an intervention in the management of depression: systematic review and meta-regression analysis of randomised controlled trials (2001) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results (Drug Treatment) report that 59% of patients stopped taking their drugs within 21 days, supporting the upper end of the cited range and the three-week timeframe. This paper does not report that 20% stopped within three weeks, so it does not establish the full range attributed to the two citations. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Blashki, T. G., Mowbray, R., and Davies, B. (1971), British Medical Journal, 1, 133.
  2. Shepherd, M., Cooper, B., Brown, A. C., and Kalton, G. W. (1964). British Medical3Journal, 2, 1359. on 7 August 2023 by guest. Protected by copyright. http://www.bmj.com/ Br Med J: first published as 10.1136/bmj.2.5857.18 on 7 April 1973. Downloaded from

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Authors
Johnson, D. A. W.
Corresponding author
Johnson, D. A. W.
Venue
BMJ
Publisher
BMJ
Published
1973-04-07
Volume
2
Issue
5857
Pages
18-20
ISSN
  • 0007-1447 (ISSN-L)
  • 1468-5833
DOI
10.1136/bmj.2.5857.18
OpenAlex
W1964469244
Cited by
133
References
5
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2018: 1
FWCI
13.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.bmj.com/company/legal-information/terms-conditions/legal-information/tdm-licencepolicy (tdm)
Locations
  • BMJ (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health Treatment and Access
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
Keywords
depression, general practice, antidepressants, medication adherence, consultation rates, follow-up supervision, physician-patient relationship, urban general practice
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antidepressive Agents, Depression, Family Practice, Female, Humans, Interview, Psychological, Male, Middle Aged, Physician-Patient Relations, Psychotherapy, Referral and Consultation, Stress, Psychological, Tranquilizing Agents, Substance-Related Disorders

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