Measuring the severity of depression and remission in primary care: validation of the HAMD-7 scale.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Symptomatic remission is the optimal outcome in depression. A brief, validated tool for symptom measurement that can indicate when remission has occurred in mental health and primary care settings is unavailable. We evaluated a 7-item abbreviated version (HAMD-7) of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) in a randomized controlled clinical trial of patients with major depressive disorder being cared for in primary care settings.

Methods

We enrolled 454 patients across 47 primary care settings who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for a major depressive disorder. Of these, 410 patients requiring antidepressant medication were randomized to have their symptoms rated with either HAMD-7 (n = 205) or HAMD-17 (n = 205) as the primary measurement tool. The primary o

SUBMITTER: McIntyre RS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1283499 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature