News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles Vega, MD
March 31, 2008 - An overview of pharmacologic treatments for adults with depression in the primary care setting is published in the March 15 issue of the American Family Physician. The authors of this overview recommend close follow-up when therapy is initiated and dosages are adjusted, in part because of possible increase in suicide risk.
"Depression is common in primary care patients, with an incidence from 10 to 14 percent among patients who present to a physician's office for any reason," write Stephen M. Adams, MD, from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in Chattanooga, and colleagues. "The use of antidepressants is increasing, having doubled in the United States between the years 1995 and 2002. The number of medication choices has likewise grown."
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