Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Antidepressant belief groups (recent percentage of adherence in parentheses).
- Figure 2.
Morisky adherence scores by beliefs group. Note: Higher scores indicate lesser adherence.
ns = nonsignificant.
* P = .057
† P = <.05
‡ P = <.01
§ P = <.001
Tables
Characteristics Value SF-12 = SF-12 Health Survey. Demographic characteristics Age in years, % ≤40 31 41–50 41 51–60 13 >60 5 Sex (female), % 79 Ethnic/racial minority, % 10 Education, % <High school 3 High school degree 19 Partial college or 2-year degree 34 4-year college degree 26 Graduate or professional degree 18 Comorbid medical conditions, % 0 74 1 14 2+ 14 Number of medications for all conditions, median 3.0 Functional status (SF-12), mean ± SD Physical component scale 49.0 ± 10.9 Mental component scale 41.6 ± 11.6 Depression characteristics (at study date) Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) total, mean ± SD 8.4 ± 1.8 Depression severity classification, % None 29 Mild 37 Moderate 15 Moderately severe 17 Severe 2 Treatment characteristics Medication prescribed, % Bupropion 11 Citalopram 19 Fluoxetine 11 Nefazodone 5 Paroxetine 19 Sertraline 24 Venlafaxine 11 Treatment duration, median weeks 75 Antidepressant adherence, mean ± SD Recent (doses taken in past 2 weeks), % 85.0 ± 3.0 General (Morisky score) 0.89 ± 0.96 Medication beliefs: general, mean score ± SD Overprescription 2.8 ± 0.8 Harmfulness 2.1 ± 0.5 Medication beliefs: antidepressant-specific, mean score ± SD Necessity 3.6 ± 0.8 Concerns 2.5 ± 0.9 Recent %Adherence General Adherence Predictor Variable F(2,70)Pillai’s Trace P F(1,72) P F(1,72) P MANOVA = multivariate analysis of variance. Depression severity 0.16 .855 – – – – Treatment duration 0.01 .986 – – – Social desirability bias 2.04 .138 – – – – Overprescription-minus-harmfulness composite (medication-general) 0.18 .833 – – – – Necessity-minus-concern composite (medication-specific) 11.77 .001 11.08 .001 11.23 .001
The Article in Brief
Most antidepression medications are recommended for an extended period of treatment, so that the depression symptoms do not return. Even so, between 30% and 83% of patients stop taking their antidepression medications before the recommended time. Patients vary widely in whether they take antidepressants for the recommended interval. In a survey of 81 patients, researchers found that patients who believed more strongly that they needed the medication, compared with their concerns about taking it, were more likely to take the drug as prescribed. Those whose concerns about taking the medication were stronger than their perceptions that they needed the drug were less likely to take the drug for the full time. Tailoring treatment by taking these beliefs into account may help patients gain the most benefit from antidepressant therapy.
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