Key Questions

Question 1

What is the clinical key question ?

Answer 1

Should we be prescribing medication for depression ?

Question 2

What A01 for clinical key question ?

Answer 2

• 1 in 5 people over 16 showed depression symptoms
• psychoactive drugs are available on prescription
• Has costed the NHS £9 billion so far
• psychiatrists can adjust the quantity of a drug so it can be tailored to each individual.

Question 3

What is the a02 for the clinical key question ?

Answer 3

• Low levels of serotonin has been linked to the symptoms of depression
• MAOIs stops MAO from doing its job meaning it doesn’t breakdown the monoamines and their number increases
• SSRIs stop the re uptake of serotonin in the presynaptic bulb, means there will be more in the synapse.
• drugs treatments use psychoactive drugs that change the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, for example, anti depressants increase the levels of monoamines including serotonin .

Question 4

What is the a03 of the clinical key question?

Answer 4

• geddes et al, using drugs has a relapse rate of 18% compared to 41% for the placebo group.
• Jarrett et al, found that the MAOIs were more effective than tricyclics for treating severe depression.
• march et al, found that drug treatments are most effective when combined with CBT.
• the royal college, found that 50 to 65% of people treated with antidepressants showed improvement compared to only 25-30% of those treated with the placebo.
• muller, found that 76% of those who didn’t receive treatment in the Netherlands still recovered and didn’t relapse.