Fleck Marcelo P, Berlim Marcelo T, Lafer Beny, Sougey Everton Botelho, Del Porto José Alberto, Brasil Marco Antônio, Juruena Mário Francisco, Hetem Luis Alberto
Departamento de Psiquiatria e Medicina Legal, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, and Programa de Transtornos de Humor, Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
Braz J Psychiatry. 2009 May;31 Suppl 1:S7-17. doi: 10.1590/s1516-44462009000500003.
Depression is a frequent, recurrent and chronic condition with high levels of functional disability. The Brazilian Medical Association Guidelines project proposed guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of the most common medical disorders. The objective of this paper is to present a review of the Guidelines Published in 2003 incorporating new evidence and recommendations.
This review was based on guidelines developed in other countries and systematic reviews, randomized clinical trials and when absent, observational studies and recommendations from experts. The Brazilian Medical Association proposed this methodology for the whole project. The review was developed from new international guidelines published since 2003.
The following aspects are presented: prevalence, demographics, disability, diagnostics and sub-diagnosis, efficacy of pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatment, costs and side-effects of different classes of available drugs in Brazil. Strategies for different phases of treatment are also discussed.
The Guidelines are an important tool for clinical decisions and a reference for orientation based on the available evidence in the literature.
