21Jul
Older women, the less well-educated and neurotic people are less likely to benefit from treatment for depression.
Although antidepressants and counselling work fine for many people, there is always a significant minority that fails to respond. Researchers at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle have carried out a trial to see just who these poor responders are.
They studied nearly 300 depressed individuals aged between 18 and 90, treating them with either paroxetine, problem-solving therapy or placebo. After 11 weeks, 52 per cent had responded positively to treatment. Older women, those with less education, those with physical illness and people with a neurotic personality were less likely to respond.
For example, more than 70 per cent of younger women responded, compared to just 37 per cent of older women. Women on hormone replacement therapy did better and the researchers say that this should be explored further. As for the other subgroups – those who are less education may have stresses such as low income that prolong depression, and those with physical illness may need additional treatments such as pain relief. People with neurotic personalities have an inbuilt vulnerability to depression which may be hard to overcome. The study suggests these groups could be targetted for more intensive therapy, to give them a better chance of recovering from depression.
