Depression Symptomatology and Diagnosis: Discordance Between Patients and Physicians in Primary Care Settings

This study examined the agreement between depression symptoms using an assessment tool & physician documentation of the same symptoms during a clinic visit, & then examined how the presence of these symptoms affected depression diagnosis in primary care settings. A total of 304 participants were recruited from two large urban primary care community settings. Analysis indicated only suicide ideation & hypersomnia or insomnia were associated with an increased likelihood of physician depression diagnosis. These factors were associated with an increase in the rate of depression diagnosis even when physician & self-report of the symptom differed. (49 refs.)