Korean J Psychopharmacol.
2003 Mar;14(1):40-47.
Treatment Strategy for Antidepressant-Resistant Depression in Korea: A Survey of Clinicians
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang Bucheon Hospital, Soonchunhyang University, Gyeonggi-Do, Korea.
- 2Department of Psychology, College of Social Science, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
This survey was conducted to examine psychiatrists' next-step strategies in depressed patients, when failed to respond to an adequate trial of SSRIs. METHODS: We asked 200 Korean psychiatrists who are members of Korea Society for Depressive and Bipolar Disorders what antidepressant they preferred for the treatment of depression, and what they would do next if a patient with depression shows the following responses;(1) minimal improvement, (2) partial response, (3) non-response, and (4) a relapse. RESULTS: The response rate was 48.5% (n=97). SSRIs therapy were chosen as the first-line of treatment for patients with major depression and dysthymia. The most popular treatment choices were raising dosage of SSRIs when asked for the next-step strategy for patients with minimal response after 4 weeks and with partial response after 8 weeks of an adequate SSRI therapy. Switching to a different pharmacologic agent and raising dosage were similarly chosen for non-responsive patients after 8weeks of SSRI therapy. And, for patients with a relapse, who previously were responsive to SSRI therapy, psychiatrists preferred to raise the dosage of SSRIs. CONCLUSION: The surveyed psychiatrists preferred SSRIs as the first-line treatment of depression. This survey shows what next-step strategies the Korean psychiatrists preferred for patients with various responses after SSRIs therapy.
