Abstract
BackgroundEvidences from literature suggest that Primary Care Physicians’ (PCPs) knowledge and attitude about psychological and pharmacological treatments of anxiety and depressive disorders could influence their clinical practice. The aim of the study is double: 1) to assess PCPs’ opinions about antidepressants (ADs) and psychotherapy for the management of anxiety and depressive disorders; 2) to evaluate the influence of PCPs’ gender, age, duration of clinical practice, and office location on their opinions and attitudes.MethodsThis cross-sectional multicentre survey involved 816 PCPs working in four Local Health Units of the Emilia Romagna Region. Participating PCPs were asked to complete a questionnaire during educational meetings between October 2006 and December 2008.ResultsThe response rate was 65.1%. Eighty-five percent of PCPs agreed on the effectiveness of ADs for depressive disorder whereas lower agreement emerged for anxiety disorder and on psychotherapy for both anxiety and depression. Forty percent of PCPs reported to feel “very/extremely confident” in recognizing depression and 20.0% felt equally confident in treating it with pharmacotherapy. Considering anxiety disorder, these proportions increased. Female PCPs and those located in the rural/mountain areas reported to adopt more psycho-educational support compared to male and suburban colleagues.ConclusionsOur results suggest that an effort should be made to better disseminate recent evidences about the management of anxiety and depressive disorders in Primary Care. In particular, the importance of psychological interventions and the role of drugs for anxiety disorder should be addressed.
Highlights
Evidences from literature suggest that Primary Care Physicians’ (PCPs) knowledge and attitude about psychological and pharmacological treatments of anxiety and depressive disorders could influence their clinical practice
Patients suffering from these conditions are usually treated by Primary Care Physician (PCP) while referral to mental health specialist should be considered for severe cases
In order to avoid any kind of influence on PCPs practice, no specific education courses about depression and anxiety treatments were provided during the recruitment period
Summary
Evidences from literature suggest that Primary Care Physicians’ (PCPs) knowledge and attitude about psychological and pharmacological treatments of anxiety and depressive disorders could influence their clinical practice. The aim of the study is double: 1) to assess PCPs’ opinions about antidepressants (ADs) and psychotherapy for the management of anxiety and depressive disorders; 2) to evaluate the influence of PCPs’ gender, age, duration of clinical practice, and office location on their opinions and attitudes. Anxiety and depressive disorders are highly prevalent in the general population [1] and associated with disability and low quality of life [2,3] Patients suffering from these conditions are usually treated by Primary Care Physician (PCP) while referral to mental health specialist should be considered for severe cases. Aims of the present study are: 1) to assess PCPs’ opinions, knowledge and attitudes about the management of anxiety and depressive disorders; 2) to evaluate differences among PCPs subgroups and in particular comparing by gender, age, duration of clinical practice, and office location
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