Browsing by Author "Puac-Polanco, V."

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Antidepressant use in low- middle- and high-income countries: a world mental health surveys report
(Cambridge University Press, 2021) Kadzin, A. E.; Wu, C.; Hwang, I.; Puac-Polanco, V.; Sampson, N. A.; Al-Hamzawi, A.; Alonso, J.; Andrade, L. H.; Benjet, C.; Caldas-de-Almeida, J.; de Girolamo, G.; de Jonge, P.; Florescu, S.; Gureje, O.; Haro, J. M.; Harris, M. G.; Karam, E. G.; Karam, G.; Kovess-Masfety, V.; Lee, S.; McGrath, J. J.; Navarro-Mateu, F.; Nishi, D.; Oladeji, B. D.; Posada-Villa, J.; Stein, D. J.; Üstün, T. B.; Vigo, D. V.; Zarkov, Z.; Zaslavsky, A. M.; Kessler, R. C.; WHO World Mental Health Survey collaborators
Background. The most common treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) is antidepressant medication (ADM). Results are reported on frequency of ADM use, reasons for use, and perceived effectiveness of use in general population surveys across 20 countries. Methods. Face-to-face interviews with community samples totaling n = 49 919 respondents in the World Health Organization (WHO) World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys asked about ADM use anytime in the prior 12 months in conjunction with validated fully structured diagnostic interviews. Treatment questions were administered independently of diagnoses and asked of all respondents. Results. 3.1% of respondents reported ADM use within the past 12 months. In high-income countries (HICs), depression (49.2%) and anxiety (36.4%) were the most common reasons for use. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), depression (38.4%) and sleep problems (31.9%) were the most common reasons for use. Prevalence of use was 2–4 times as high in HICs as LMICs across all examined diagnoses. Newer ADMs were proportionally used more often in HICs than LMICs. Across all conditions, ADMs were reported as very effective by 58.8% of users and somewhat effective by an additional 28.3% of users, with both proportions higher in LMICs than HICs. Neither ADM class nor reason for use was a significant predictor of perceived effectiveness. Conclusion. ADMs are in widespread use and for a variety of conditions including but going beyond depression and anxiety. In a general population sample from multiple LMICs and HICs, ADMs were widely perceived to be either very or somewhat effective by the people who use them.
Patterns and correlates of patient-reported helpfulness of treatment for common mental and substance use disorders in the WHO World Mental Health Surveys
(Elsevier Srl, 2022) Kessler, R. C.; Kazdin, A. E.; Aguilar-Gaxiola, S.; Al-Hamzawi, A.; Alonso, J.; Altwaijri, Y. A.; Andrade, L. H.; Benjet, C.; Bharat, C.; Borges, G.; Bruffaerts, R.; Bunting, B.; Caldas de Almeida, J. M.; Cardoso, G.; Chiu, W. T.; Cía, A.; Ciutan, M.; Degenhardt, L.; de Girolamo, G.; de Jonge, P.; de Vries, Y. A.; Florescu, S.; Gureje, O.; Haro, J. M.; Harris, M. G.,; Hu, C.; Karam, A. N.; Karam, E. G.; Karam, G.; Kawakami, N.; Kiejna, A.; Kovess-Masfety, V.; Lee, S.; Makanjuola, V.; McGrath, J. J.; Medina-Mora, M. E.; Moskalewicz, J.; Navarro-Mateu, F.; Nierenberg, A. A.; Nishi, D.; Ojagbemi, A.; Oladeji, B. D.; O’Neill, S.; Posada-Villa, J.; Puac-Polanco, V.; Rapsey, C.; Ruscio, A. M.; Sampson, N. A.; Scott, K. M.; Slade, T.; Stagnaro, J. C.; Stein, D. J.; Tachimori, H.; ten Have, M.; Torres, Y.; Viana, M. C.; Vigo, D. V.; Williams, D. R.; Wojtyniak, B.; Xavier, M.; Zarkov, Z.; Ziobrowski, H. N.; WHO WMH survey collaborators
Patient-reported helpfulness of treatment is an important indicator of quality in patient-centered care. We examined its pathways and predictors among respondents to household surveys who reported ever receiving treatment for major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, or alcohol use disorder. Data came from 30 community epidemiological surveys –17 in high-income countries (HICs) and 13 in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – carried out as part of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s World Mental Health (WMH) Surveys. Respondents were asked whether treatment of each disorder was ever helpful and, if so, the number of professionals seen before receiving helpful treatment. Across all surveys and diagnostic categories, 26.1% of patients (N=10,035) reported being helped by the very first professional they saw. Persisting to a second professional after a first unhelpful treatment brought the cumulative probability of receiving helpful treatment to 51.2%. If patients persisted with up through eight professionals, the cumulative probability rose to 90.6%. However, only an estimated 22.8% of patients would have persisted in seeing these many professionals after repeatedly receiving treatments they considered not helpful. Although the proportion of individuals with disorders who sought treatment was higher and they were more persistent in HICs than LMICs, proportional helpfulness among treated cases was no different between HICs and LMICs. A wide range of predictors of perceived treatment helpfulness were found, some of them consistent across diagnostic categories and others unique to specific disorders. These results provide novel information about patient evaluations of treatment across diagnoses and countries varying in income level, and suggest that a critical issue in improving the quality of care for mental disorders should be fostering persistence in professional help-seeking if earlier treatments are not helpful.