Treatment-Resistant Depression Common and Costly
THURSDAY, Dec. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is associated with a heavy individual and societal burden, according to a study published online Dec. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Johan Lundberg, M.D., Ph.D., from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, and colleagues estimated the burden of TRD in a large population covered by universal health care. Analysis included psychiatric and nonpsychiatric data from the Stockholm Major Depressive Disorder Cohort (2010 to 2017; including 158,169 unipolar MDD episodes in 145,577 patients) using the predefined criteria for TRD of three or more consecutive antidepressant treatments.
The researchers found that 11 percent of MDD episodes fulfilled criteria for TRD, with a median time from the start of MDD episode to TRD of 552 days. TRD episodes had more inpatient bed-days (mean, 3.9 versus 1.3 days) and more lost workdays (mean, 132.3 versus 58.7 days) 12 months after the index date, compared with matched non-TRD episodes. Common comorbid conditions in TRD episodes included anxiety, stress, sleep disorder, and substance use disorder. TRD episodes were also associated with four times higher frequency of intentional self-harm. The all-cause mortality rate for patients with MDD and TRD episodes was 10.7 per 1,000 person-years at risk versus 8.7 per 1,000 person-years at risk among patients with MDD without TRD episodes (hazard ratio, 1.23). Severity of MDD at time of diagnosis was the most important prognostic factor for TRD.
"The median time between initiation of new antidepressant treatments was longer than recommended in current treatment guidelines, suggesting room for more structured and timely depression care," the authors write.
Two authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Related Posts
White House to Give Schools 10 Million Free COVID-19 Tests Every Month
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 12, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- In an effort to keep children in...
Drug May Offer New Approach Against Rheumatoid Arthritis
THURSDAY, May 18, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- An investigational drug may hit the...
Vitamin D Supplementation May Aid New-Onset Pediatric T1DM
THURSDAY, Aug. 26, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- High-dose vitamin D...
Un medicamento para la diabetes podría ayudar a las mujeres con preeclampsia a prolongar su embarazo
JUEVES, 23 de septiembre de 2021 (HealthDay News) -- La metformina, un...