New Data Suggests Doctors Might Not Be Considering Depression Symptoms That Are Important to Patients, Such as Pain and Anxiety

VIENNA, 16 October 2007 - Doctors and depressed patients judge symptom severity and improvement following pharmacotherapy differently, according to data presented today at the 20th Annual Meeting of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) in Vienna, Austria. The data suggest physicians might not be considering symptoms that are important in the eyes of patients, such as pain and anxiety.1

The results are based on a post-hoc analysis of a double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center European study in adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) and non-specific pain (n=327). This analysis aimed to compare how patients and physicians estimate overall disease severity at baseline and symptom improvement during short-term treatment of major depression, regardless of treatment group.1 Results showed that physicians treating these patients consider only physician-rated depressive symptoms (as assessed by the Montgomery-Asperg-Depressions Scale or MADRS) when assessing how sick the patient is and whether the patient is getting better. Patients, on the other hand also consider pain and anxiety when judging their own improvement.1

“Previous evidence has suggested that treating both the emotional and the physical symptoms of depression provides patients with the best chance of reaching remission,” said Professor Koen Demyttenaere, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium and lead author of this study. “These qualitative results highlight the need for physicians to also consider a broad spectrum of symptoms including pain and anxiety when treating patients with Major Depressive Disorder and associated pain.”

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