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Seniors who go to the doctor with physical rather than psychological signs that they have depression are less likely to actually be diagnosed with this condition.
Furthermore, even if patients with physical problems are correctly diagnosed with depression, they experience fewer good treatment outcomes because they are less likely to accept the diagnosis and to take antidepressant drugs than patients presenting with psychological symptoms.
Those are the findings of a study in the June issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Physical ailments that may indicate depression include palpitations, hot flashes, chest pains or appetite problems. The study of 200 adults found that doctors often overlook these ailments as signs of depression.
According to the researchers, the success of the treatment for depression depends on whether it matches patient preference. Study author Dr. Robert D. Keeley, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, said the findings suggests that physicians need to return to the basic medical tenet of listening to the patient and to search for new or modified interventions for depression when treating a patient with physical symptoms to improve the outcome.
Source: Medical Week staff, July 22, 2004
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