Marsha N. Wittink

Unwritten Rules of Talking to Doctors About Depression: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative Methods

PURPOSE We wanted to understand concordance and discordance between physicians and patients about depression status by assessing older patient’s views of interactions with their physicians. METHODS We used an integrated mixed methods design that is both hypothesis testing and hypothesis generating. Patients aged 65 years and older, who identified themselves as being depressed, were recruited from the offices of primary care physicians and interviewed in their homes using a semistructured interview format. We compared patients whose physicians rated them as depressed with those whose physicians who did not according to personal characteristics (hypothesis testing). Themes regarding patient perceptions of their encounters with physicians were then used to generate further hypotheses. RESULTS Patients whose physician rated them as depressed were younger than those whose physician did not. Standard measures, such as depressive symptoms and functional status, did not differentiate between patients. Four themes emerged in interviews with patients regarding how they interacted with their physicians; namely, “My doctor just picked it up,” “I’m a good patient,” “They just check out your heart and things,” and “They’ll just send you to a psychiatrist.” All patients who thought the physician would “just pick up” depression and those who thought bringing up emotional content would result in a referral to a psychiatrist were rated as depressed by the physician. Few of the patients who discussed being a “good patient” were rated as depressed by the physician. CONCLUSIONS Physicians may signal to patients, wittingly or unwittingly, how emotional problems will be addressed, influencing how patients perceive their interactions with physicians regarding emotional problems.

Losing Faith and Using Faith: Older African Americans Discuss Spirituality, Religious Activities, and Depression

Older African Americans are often under diagnosed and under treated for depression. Given that older African Americans are more likely than whites to identify spirituality as important in depression care, we sought to understand how spirituality may play a role in the way they conceptualize and deal with depression in order to inform possible interventions aimed at improving the acceptability and effectiveness of depression treatment. Cross-sectional qualitative interview study of older African American primary care patients. Forty-seven older African American patients recruited from primary care practices in the Baltimore, MD area, interviewed in their homes. Semi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60 minutes. Interviews were transcribed and themes related to spirituality in the context of discussing depression were identified using a grounded-theory approach. Participants in this study held a faith-based explanatory model of depression with a particular emphasis on the cause of depression and what to do about it. Specifically, participants described depression as being due to a “loss of faith” and faith and spiritual/religious activities were thought to be empowering in the way they can work together with medical treatments to provide the strength for healing to occur. The older African Americans in this study described an intrinsically spiritual explanatory model of depression. Addressing spirituality in the clinical encounter may lead to improved detection of depression and treatments that are more congruent with patient’s beliefs and values.Background and ObjectivesOlder African Americans are often under diagnosed and under treated for depression. Given that older African Americans are more likely than whites to identify spirituality as important in depression care, we sought to understand how spirituality may play a role in the way they conceptualize and deal with depression in order to inform possible interventions aimed at improving the acceptability and effectiveness of depression treatment.DesignCross-sectional qualitative interview study of older African American primary care patients.Participants and SettingForty-seven older African American patients recruited from primary care practices in the Baltimore, MD area, interviewed in their homes.MeasurementsSemi-structured interviews lasting approximately 60 minutes. Interviews were transcribed and themes related to spirituality in the context of discussing depression were identified using a grounded-theory approach.Main ResultsParticipants in this study held a faith-based explanatory model of depression with a particular emphasis on the cause of depression and what to do about it. Specifically, participants described depression as being due to a “loss of faith” and faith and spiritual/religious activities were thought to be empowering in the way they can work together with medical treatments to provide the strength for healing to occur.ConclusionsThe older African Americans in this study described an intrinsically spiritual explanatory model of depression. Addressing spirituality in the clinical encounter may lead to improved detection of depression and treatments that are more congruent with patient’s beliefs and values.

Personal Characteristics of Older Primary Care Patients Who Provide a Buccal Swab for Apolipoprotein E Testing and Banking of Genetic Material: The Spectrum Study

Objective: To determine the personal characteristics and reasons associated with providing a buccal swab for apolipoprotein E (APOE) genetic testing in a primary care study. Methods: The study sample consisted of 342 adults aged 65 years and older recruited from primary care settings. Results: In all, 88% of patients agreed to provide a DNA sample for APOE genotyping and 78% of persons providing a sample agreed to banking of the DNA. Persons aged 80 years and older and African-Americans were less likely to participate in APOE genotyping. Concern about confidentiality was the most common reason for not wanting to provide a DNA sample or to have DNA banked. Conclusion: We found stronger relationships between sociodemographic variables of age and ethnicity with participation in genetic testing than we did between level of educational attainment, gender, function, cognition, and affect.

“Pull Yourself Up by Your Bootstraps”: A Response to Depression in Older Adults

Although depression is one of the most common problems among adults in primary care settings, many do not seek or adhere to the treatment regimens suggested by their providers. Understanding the cultural model surrounding depression and its treatment in older adults might provide insight into the development of more effective strategies for addressing the problem in the clinical setting. In this study, the authors conducted semi-structured interviews with adults over age 65. Personal responsibility for the management of depression emerged as a pervasive approach to dealing with depression. Older adults used orientational and movement metaphors to describe the process of moving out of depression. They viewed initiation and follow-through of this process as the sole responsibility of the depressed individual. This attitude might be rooted in the cultural experiences of this particular cohort of older adults and has implications for their use of physical and mental health services for depression.

Simvastatin Causes Changes in Affective Processes in Elderly Volunteers

OBJECTIVES: To test for simvastatin‐induced changes in affect and affective processes in elderly volunteers.

How Older Adults Combine Medical and Experiential Notions of Depression

Past research has suggested that patients might not accept depression treatment in part because of differences between patient and doctor understandings of depression. In this article, we use a cultural models approach to explore how older adults incorporate clinical and experiential knowledge into their model of depression. We conducted semistructured interviews about depression with 19 patients aged 65 years and older who were identified by their physicians as depressed. We found that whereas older adults viewed as helpful the doctors ability to identify symptoms and “put it all together” into a diagnosis, they felt that this viewpoint omitted important information about the etiology and feeling of depression grounded in embodied experience and social context. Our findings suggest that more emphasis on issues related to the etiology of depression, the effect of depression on social relationships, and emotions emanating from depression might lead to more acceptable depression treatments for older adults.

Comparison of Distribution‐ and Anchor‐Based Approaches to Infer Changes in Health‐Related Quality of Life of Prostate Cancer Survivors

OBJECTIVE To determine the minimal important difference (MID) in generic and prostate-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL) using distribution- and anchor-based methods. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING Prospective cohort study of 602 newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients recruited from an urban academic hospital and a Veterans Administration hospital. Participants completed generic (SF-36) and prostate-specific HRQoL surveys at baseline and at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months posttreatment. Anchor-based and distribution-based methods were used to develop MID estimates. We compared the proportion of participants returning to baseline based on MID estimates from the two methods. RESULTS MID estimates derived from combining distribution- and anchor-based methods for the SF-36 subscales are physical function = 7, role physical = 14, role emotional = 12, vitality = 9, mental health = 6, social function = 9, bodily pain = 9, and general health = 8; and for the prostate-specific scales are urinary function = 8, bowel function = 7, sexual function = 8, urinary bother = 9, bowel bother = 8, and sexual bother = 11. Proportions of participants returning to baseline values corresponding to MID estimates from the two methods were comparable. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study to assess the MID for generic and prostate-specific HRQoL using anchor-based and distribution-based methods. Although variation exists in the MID estimates derived from these two methods, the recovery patterns corresponding to these estimates were comparable.

Towards Patient-Centered Care for Depression

Background: Although antidepressants and counseling have been shown to be effective in treating patients with depression, non-treatment or under-treatment for depression is common, especially among the elderly and minorities. Previous work on patient preferences has focused on medication versus counseling, but less is known about the value that patients place on attributes of medication and counseling.Objective: To examine, using conjoint analysis, the relative importance of various attributes of depression treatment at the group level as well as to determine the range of individual-level relative preference weights for specific depression treatment attributes. In addition, to predict what modifications in treatment characteristics are associated with a change in the stated preferred alternative.Methods: A total of 86 adults who participated in an internet-based panel responded to an online discrete-choice task about depression treatment. Participants chose between medication and counseling based on choice sets presented first for a ‘mild depression’ scenario and then for a ‘severe depression’ scenario. Participants were given 18 choice sets that varied for medication based on type of side effect (nausea, dizziness, and sexual dysfunction) and severity of side effect (mild, moderate, and severe); and for counseling based on frequency of counseling sessions (once per week or every other week) and location of the sessions (mental health professional’s office, primary-care doctor’s office, or office of a spiritual counselor).Results: Treatment type (counseling vs medication) appeared to be more important in driving treatment choice than any specific attribute that was studied; specifically, counseling was preferred by most of the respondents. After treatment type, location and frequency of treatment were important considerations. Preferred attributes were similar in both the mild and severe depression scenarios. Side effect severity appeared to be most important in driving treatment choice compared with the other attributes studied. Individual-level relative preferences for treatment type revealed a distribution that was roughly bimodal; 27 participants had a strong preference for counseling and 14 had a strong preference for medication.Conclusions: Estimating individual-level preferences for treatment type allowed us to see the variability in preferences and determine which participants had a strong affinity for medication or counseling. We found that participants preferred counseling over medication, avoided options with severe side effects, and wanted to be seen in the primary-care doctor’s office as opposed to other venues.

Towards Personalizing Treatment for Depression

BackgroundWhile ‘personalized medicine’ commonly refers to genetic markers or profiles associated with pharmacological treatment response, tailoring treatments to patient preferences and values is equally important.ObjectiveTo describe and demonstrate a method to develop ‘values markers,’ or profiles based on the relative importance of attributes of depression treatment.Study DesignDiscrete choice analysis was used to assess individuals’ relative preferences for features of depression treatment. Preference profiles were developed using latent profile analysis.Patients or Other ParticipantsEighty-six adults participating in an internet-based discrete choice questionnaire.Main Outcome MeasureParticipants were presented with two depression scenarios representing mild and severe depression. For each scenario, they were asked to compare 18 choice sets based on the type of medication side effect (nausea, dizziness, and sexual dysfunction) and severity (mild, moderate, and severe); and for counseling frequency (once per week or every other week) and provider setting (the office of a mental health professional, primary care doctor, or spiritual counselor).ResultsThree profiles were identified: profile 1 was associated with a preference for counseling and an avoidance of medication side effects; profile 2 with an avoidance of strong medication side effects and for receiving counseling in medical settings; and profile 3 with a preference for medication over counseling. When presented with a severe depression scenario, there was a higher prevalence for profile 1 and patients were more likely to prefer mental health over primary care and spiritual settings.ConclusionsValues markers may provide a foundation for personalized medicine, and reflect current initiatives emphasizing patient-centered care. Next steps should assess whether values markers are predictive of treatment initiation and adherence.

Shared Conceptualizations and Divergent Experiences of Counseling Among African American and White Older Adults

Research findings suggest that older adults prefer counseling for depression treatment; however, few older adults use counseling services. In this article we present the results of our analysis of semistructured interviews with 102 older adults to explore conceptualizations of counseling and impediments to use among African American and White older adults. We found that older adults believe counseling is beneficial; however, use was hindered in multiple ways. Older adults were skeptical about establishing a caring relationship with a professional. African American older adults did not mention social relationships to facilitate depression care, whereas White older adults described using personal relationships to navigate counseling services. African American older men were least familiar with counseling. Our findings suggest that African American and White older adults share a strong cultural model of counseling as beneficial; however, significant impediments exist and affect older adults differentially based on ethnicity.