Curing' depression? 7-item questionnaire to
determine if a patient has recovered
November 22, 2005
Determining when treatment of a depressed patient can safely be discontinued is
important but difficult for clinicians; until now, no tests have been available
that are simple to administer in a doctor's office.
Roger McIntyre and colleagues developed a brief 7-item questionnaire to
determine if a patient with depression has recovered, and have now evaluated it
for use in primary care.
In a randomized controlled trial involving 454 patients with major depressive
disorder across 47 medical practices in 4 provinces, outcomes of antidepressant
therapy were determined with the brief HAMD-7 questionnaire or the standard
longer questionnaire (the HAMD-17) that is used in research and specialty
settings.
Results from the 2 study instruments showed good agreement, which suggests that
the shorter version is accurate and could be used in clinical practice by
physicians.
p. 1327 Measuring the severity of depression and remission in primary care:
validation of the HAMD-7 scale -- R.S. McIntyre et al
cmaj.ca/misc/press/pg1327.pdf
Dr. Roger McIntyre
Canadian Medical Association Journal
cma.ca/cmaj
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