Poster 37 – Depression Outcomes in Primary Care

Summary

Depression is one of the leading causes of disability across the globe and it is associated with several adverse outcomes such as potential to self-harm, comorbid medical conditions such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease among others. The purpose of the current study is to examine the effectiveness of primary care behavioral health treatment on levels of depressive symptoms in patients diagnosed with a depressive disorder at a large community clinic within Geisinger Health system using. Ninety-one patients completed Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) screening tool before and after treatment. The age of this sample ranged between 21-79 years with an average age of 41 years. Results of this data analysis showed that 87% of the patients participating in this integrated behavioral health treatment experienced improvement in their depressive symptoms. Sixty five percent out of 87% of these patients reported at least 5+ points decrease in their PHQ-9 scores at the end of the treatment. The average number of visits for this patient population is 3.40 with a booster session scheduled for 3 months after the completion of the treatment. Overall, the patients that were referred for the treatment of depressive symptoms by their primary care physician reported improvement in their symptoms. Further data analysis will be conducted to identify gender differences for depression outcomes and will be included for final presentation.