VIDEO: Treating depression in primary care requires personalized approach

SAN DIEGO — Internal medicine physicians have an important part to play in major depression treatment, according to a presenter at the ACP Internal Medicine Meeting.

“Depression affects nearly 20% of adults. It’s a very important problem and internal medicine physicians have a big role to play — a very important role to play,” Douglas K. Owens, MD, MS, FACP, a professor of health policy and chair of the department of health policy at the Stanford University School of Medicine, said.

Owens discussed recent ACP guidance on depression, which recommends cognitive behavioral therapy or second-generation antidepressants as an initial treatment for patients in the acute phase of moderate to severe major depressive disorder. For mild depression, the organization recommends cognitive behavioral therapy as the first-line treatment to avoid the possibility of adverse events associated with second-generation antidepressants.

One important takeaway is that “therapy really needs to be individualized, personalized for each patient based on the symptoms they're having or other comorbid conditions,” Owens said. Additionally, it is important to carefully monitor these treatments.

“Once somebody initiates the treatment, they should be monitored to see if they're getting better to make sure they're not getting worse, and that should go on for the acute phase of depression until they are better,” Owens said. “We hope this guideline will be helpful as our colleagues try to help their patients with major depression.”

Reference:

• Owens DK, et al. News you can use: Current clinical guidelines in treatments for depression and COVID-19. Presented at: ACP Internal Medicine Meeting; April 27-29, 2023; San Diego.