Insights into Treatment Resistant Depression in Portugal
May 6, 2024
The disease burden from treatment resistant depression (TRD) in Portugal has surpassed that of heart failure. A non-interventional study involving 411 patients across Europe, including 37 Portuguese participants, highlighted the challenging landscape of TRD in Portugal. Initially, 45.9% of Portuguese patients exhibited severe depression, which is higher than the broader study’s average. These patients also demonstrated substantial impairments in work productivity compared to the general population, as evidenced by their scores on the Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire and the Sheehan Disability Scale.
Despite a high baseline severity, Portuguese patients showed an improved six-month response or remission rate (40.7%) compared to the overall study population (26.5%). However, the wide variety of treatments usedᅳ31 different strategiesᅳsuggests a lack of consensus on managing TRD effectively in Portugal. These findings underscore the urgent need for more effective treatment options as the majority of patients did not respond to current therapies.
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[Source: Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, pre-released for July 2024.]
