After receiving a depression diagnosis, individuals may come to identify with their diagnosis [22, 23].
Participants were asked whether they had ever received a depression diagnosis by a physician.
20 A high level of drug use, especially treatment with antidepressants, has been found several years before a patient receiving a depression diagnosis.
This is a more conservative approach than has been used previously (30 days on either side of the pain symptom) 16 to limit misclassification and results in a relatively small sample size which does not refect the prevalence of PPS in patients receiving a depression diagnosis.
Yet, when such a history remains unknown, patients are likely to receive a unipolar depression diagnosis and treatment that is inappropriate or contraindicated for bipolar disorder, such as antidepressant monotherapy and lack of appropriate mood-stabilizing medication.
Of note, the low specificity (i.e., 58%) of the 15-item GDS for major depression at the standard cutpoint (i.e., >5) may limit its use with older persons similar to those in our study, because many would need follow-up evaluation to receive a specific depression diagnosis.
Participants with a higher number of traumatic events were more likely to receive a PTSD-depression comorbid diagnosis.
The only QI's for which there were significant differences between patients receiving neurology care and those shared care was QI20 which suggests that persons with epilepsy should receive an annual depression assessment.
Patients with a past history of depression or who have severe symptoms of depression are more likely to receive a diagnosis of depression.
Patients most likely to receive a diagnosis of depression by a doctor are those with a past history of depression or who have severe symptoms of depression.
