Aljarallah Jarallah A, Sekhar Chandra
Family Medicine, Family Medicine Academy, Qassim Health Cluster, Buraidah, SAU.
Cureus. 2024 Jun 12;16(6):e62239. doi: 10.7759/cureus.62239. eCollection 2024 Jun.
The global geriatric population is increasing, leading to a higher prevalence of non-communicable diseases, including depression. This condition often remains underdiagnosed and untreated disease.
A cross-sectional study was conducted among 130 primary healthcare physicians (PCPs) in Buraidah to assess their practices in diagnosing geriatric depression from March 2023 to March 2024. After ethical committee approval, data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire, entered, cleaned, and analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, IBM Corp., Version 21.0, Armonk, NY). Informed consent was obtained and the confidentiality of the participant information was maintained. Statistical tests, including the Chi-square test, were used for inference.
Out of 130 PCPs, 85.4% (n=111) were diagnosing depression during their clinical practice. The most common depression scale used in their regular practice was the patient health questionnaire (PHQ)-2 (70%, n=91), followed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (53.8%, n=70). Nearly 26.2% (n=34) of physicians responded that there is no need for routine lab tests for the diagnosis of depression. Concerning the initial plan of depression management, nearly 76.2% (n=99) of physicians preferred non-pharmacological treatment. Regarding barriers to diagnosis of depression in elderly patients, nearly 76.2% (n=99) mentioned the need for more training about geriatric depression, followed by 70% for both short consultation time and the need for Ministry of Health guidelines. There was a statistically significant association observed between <35 years of age group and a preference for a high percentage of pharmacological therapy (P<0.05).
Based on the findings of the study, there was a good number (85.4%) of PCPs diagnosing depression in their clinics, and also three-fourths of the physicians (76.2%) preferred non-pharmacological treatment. Only one-fourth (26.2%) of the PCPs mentioned no lab is required for the diagnosis of depression.
全球老年人口不断增加，导致包括抑郁症在内的非传染性疾病患病率上升。这种疾病往往仍未得到充分诊断和治疗。
在布赖代对130名初级保健医生进行了一项横断面研究，以评估他们在2023年3月至2024年3月期间诊断老年抑郁症的做法。经伦理委员会批准后，通过自填问卷收集数据，录入、清理并用社会科学统计软件包（适用于Windows的IBM SPSS Statistics，IBM公司，版本21.0，纽约州阿蒙克）进行分析。获得了知情同意，并对参与者信息保密。使用包括卡方检验在内的统计检验进行推断。
在130名初级保健医生中，85.4%（n = 111）在临床实践中诊断抑郁症。他们在常规实践中最常用的抑郁量表是患者健康问卷（PHQ）-2（70%，n = 91），其次是老年抑郁量表（53.8%，n = 70）。近26.2%（n = 34）的医生表示诊断抑郁症无需进行常规实验室检查。关于抑郁症管理的初始计划，近76.2%（n = 99）的医生倾向于非药物治疗。关于老年患者抑郁症诊断的障碍，近76.2%（n = 99）提到需要更多关于老年抑郁症的培训，其次是70%提到咨询时间短和需要卫生部指南。在年龄小于35岁的医生群体与高比例药物治疗偏好之间观察到统计学上的显著关联（P < 0.05）。
根据研究结果，有相当数量（85.4%）的初级保健医生在其诊所诊断抑郁症，并且四分之三的医生（76.2%）倾向于非药物治疗。只有四分之一（26.2%） 的初级保健医生表示诊断抑郁症无需实验室检查。
