Remission in Depression and Associated Factors at Different Assessment Times in Primary Care in Chile

To determine the factors associated with remission at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months among depressive adult patients in primary care [PHC] in Chile.

This is a one-year naturalistic study that followed 297 patients admitted for treatment of depression in eight primary care clinics in Chile. Initially, patients were evaluated using: the International Mini-Neuropsychiatric Interview [MINI], a screening for Childhood Trauma Events [CTEs], the Life Experiences Survey and a partner violence scale. The Hamilton Depression Scale [HDRS] was used to follow the patients during the observation time. Associations between the factors studied and the primary outcome remission [HDRS ≤ 7] were assessed using a dichotomous logistic regression and a multivariate Poisson regression. The significance level was 0.05.

Remission [HDRS ≤ 7] ranged between 36.7% at 3 months and 53.9% at 12 months. Factors that predicted poor remission during the observation time were: CTEs [Wald X² = 4.88, Exp B=0.94, CI 0.90-0.92, p=0.27]; psychiatric comorbidities [Wald X² = 10.73, Exp B=0.90, CI 0.85-0.96, p=0.01]; suicidal tendencies [Wald X² = 4.66, Exp B=0.88, CI 0.79-0.98, p=0.03] and prior treatment for depression [Wald X² = 4.50, Exp B=0.81, CI 0.68-0.85, p=0.03].

Almost 50% of this sample failed remission in depression at 12 months. Psychiatric comorbidities and CTEs are factors that should be considered for a poor outcome in depressed Chilean patients. These factors need more recognition and a better approach in PHC.