Mental Disorders Commons^™

Advantages Of Using Estimated Depression- Free Days For Evaluating Treatment Efficacy, Steven D. Vannoy, Patricia Arean, JüRgen UnüTzer

Steven D Vannoy

Objective: Several common methods for measuring treatment response present a snapshot of depression symptoms. The construct of estimated depression-free days (DFDs) simultaneously captures treatment outcome and estimates the patient’s experience of depression over time. The study compared this measure with traditional measures used in depression treatment research. Methods: This secondary data analysis was based on data from the Improving Mood—Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment trial, a multisite depression treatment study conducted in 18 primary care clinics in five states and representing eight health care sys- tems. The sample of older adults (N=906) had been randomly assigned to receive collaborative care …