Preferencias por las decisiones compartidas en pacientes con depresión / Depressive patients' preferences in shared decision-making / Preferências pelas decisões compartilhadas em pacientes com depressão

This study analyzed the role of psychological processes predicting depressed patients' preferences in clinical decision-making about psychiatric treatment. 462 patients diagnosed with depressive disorders, acute or recurrent, participated in a crosssectional survey. Most participants preferred collaborative-passive or totally passive roles. Results showed no significant differences between acute and recurrent patients in their preference of participation in decision-making, but longer treatment duration was associated with a more passive style. MANCOVA, controlling age, educational level and treatment duration variables, showed that collaborative and passive patients had a greater locus of control focused on their psychiatrist than active patients. Gender differences were found. Men showed greater internal locus of control and psychological reactance, while women showed greater external locus of control focused on chance. Regression analysis indicated that, for men, passive preferred role was explained by external locus centered on their psychiatrist. However, age registered the highest weight for women' passive decision-making, followed by the locus focused on chance, locus focused on the psychiatrist and lower self-efficacy. Our findings suggest the need to study shared decision-making from a differential perspective that involves psychological processes and the impact of these processes in adherence to medical treatments.

En el presente estudio se analizaron los procesos psicológicos asociados con las preferencias de los pacientes con depresión en la toma de decisión sobre su tratamiento psiquiátrico. Participaron 462 pacientes diagnosticados con un trastorno depresivo agudo o recurrente. La mayor parte prefirió asumir un rol colaborativo-pasivo o totalmente pasivo. Los resultados no mostraron diferencias significativas entre pacientes en función de su cronicidad en la preferencia por la toma de decisiones, aunque un mayor tiempo de tratamiento se asoció con un estilo más pasivo. El MANCOVA aplicado al total de participantes, controlando la edad, el nivel educativo y el tiempo de tratamiento, indicó que los pacientes colaborativos y pasivos mostraron mayor locus de control centrado en la confianza en el psiquiatra que los activos. Se encontraron diferencias de género mostrando en los hombres mayor locus de control interno y reactancia psicológica, y en las mujeres, mayor locus centrado en el azar. Los análisis de regresión indicaron que en el caso de los hombres, la preferencia pasiva por la toma de decisión es explicada por el locus centrado en el psiquiatra. Sin embargo, en las mujeres tuvo mayor peso la edad, seguida del locus centrado en el azar, el locus centrado en el psiquiatra y una percepción de menor autoeficacia. Los hallazgos señalan la necesidad de estudiar desde una perspectiva diferencial la participación de los pacientes en la toma de decisión de acuerdo con los procesos psicológicos, así como la repercusión que esta tiene en la adherencia al tratamiento médico.

Neste estudo, analisaram-se os processos psicológicos associados com as preferências dos pacientes com depressão na tomada de decisão sobre seu tratamento psiquiátrico. Participaram 462 pacientes diagnosticados com um transtorno depressivo agudo ou recorrente. A maior parte preferiu assumir um papel colaborativo-passivo ou totalmente passivo. Os resultados não mostraram diferenças significativas entre pacientes em função de sua cronicidade na preferência por tomada de decisões, embora um maior tempo de tratamento tenha sido associado com um estilo mais passivo. O MANCOVA aplicado ao total de participantes, controlando a idade, o nível educativo e o tempo de tratamento, indicou que os pacientes colaborativos e passivos mostraram maior lócus de controle centralizado na confiança no psiquiatra do que os ativos. Constataram-se diferenças de gênero que mostraram nos homens maior lócus de controle interno e reatância psicológica, e, nas mulheres, maior lócus centralizado no aleatório, o lócus centralizado no psiquiatra e uma percepção de menor autoeficácia. Os achados indicam a necessidade de estudar, sob uma perspectiva diferencial, a participação dos pacientes na tomada de decisão de acordo com os processos psicológicos e a repercussão que esta tem na aderência ao tratamento médico.

[Antidepressant management strategy from the patient perspective: struggling internally and externally]. / Estrategias de manejo de los antidepresivos desde la perspectiva de los pacientes: luchando interna y externamente.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the consumption pathway and strategies of coping with antidepressants use from the patients perspective. DESIGN: Qualitative research. SETTING: Tenerife. SAMPLING: Theoretical sampling until saturation. METHOD: A total of 17 open interviews with patients who consumed antidepressants whether combined with tranquilisers or not. The age range was between 35-85 years, and there were 13 women. Ten lived in a more urban setting and the rest in rural areas. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using a modified Grounded Theory supported by the software program ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: The process identified as coping with antidepressants, was called "struggling internally and externally." It consisted of the individual assessment of the benefits and risks of medication use (internal struggle), addressing stigma and social pressure (external struggle). The outcome of the assessment made by patients may lead to different strategies for adjusting to drug treatment: "unconditional acceptance", "resigned acceptance" or "forced acceptance". CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the evaluation process that the patient needs to go through, given the internal and external struggle in which they are immersed, can be useful to develop interventions that improve medication use. In fact, physicians have an important role, although not always explicitly sought in resolving the dilemma posed by patients using antidepressant drugs and, therefore, reducing the length of patient suffering.

The relationship among mental health status (GHQ-12), health related quality of life (EQ-5D) and health-state utilities in a general population.

AIM: To assess the relationship between mental health and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in the general population, and to map GHQ-12 as a screening test for population psychological distress to a generic health state measure (EQ-5D) in order to estimate health state values and allow deriving quality-adjusted life years. METHODS: Relationship between mental health and HRQL was examined from the 2004 Canary Islands' Health Survey. Participants were classified as probable psychiatric cases according to GHQ-12. HRQL was measured by the EQ-5D index. Multivariate lineal regression analysis was used to examine the association between mental health and HRQL adjusting by socio-demographic variables and comorbidities. A multivariate regression model was built from EQ-5D to estimate health states values using GHQ-12 as exposure. RESULTS: EQ-5D index scores decreased as the GHQ-12 scores increased. Clinical and socio-demographic factors influenced HRQL without changing the overall trend for this negative relationship. The regression equation explained 43% of the variance. For estimation of utility scores, the model showed a high predictive capacity, with a mean forecast errors of 16%. CONCLUSIONS: HRQL progressively decreased when the probability of being a psychiatric case increased. Findings enable health state values to be derived from GHQ-12 scores for populations where utilities has not or cannot be measured directly.