NATURALISTICKÁ OBSERVAČNÍ STUDIE DŮVODŮ A ZPŮSOBU ZMĚNY SKLADBY PSYCHOFARMAKOLOGICKÉ LÉČBY DEPRESIVNÍ PORUCHY V PSYCHIATRICKÝCH AMBULANCÍCH.

Introduction: Depressive disorder, as one of the most common mental illnesses, adversely affects the lives and health of many people around the world. It occurs at any age, but most commonly between the ages of 20 and 40. Worldwide, approximately 100 million people suffer from depressive disorders each year, with many individuals experiencing partial treatment response or treatment resistance, which continually increases the need to find effective prevention and treatment strategies, as well as to monitor and evaluate currently used approaches in routine clinical practice. Materials and methods: The more broadly conceived study, working title UMBRELLA, was a non-interventional, observational, multicentre study, the first phase of which focused on the so-called "real world evidence" of reasons for changing psychopharmacological treatment and its detailed nature in patients suffering from a depressive episode of periodic depressive disorder. The final evaluation included data from 267 patients treated in psychiatric outpatient clinics in the Czech Republic that participated in the probe into their own clinical practice. Results: Data from 74 men (27.7%) and 193 women (72.3%) with a mean age of 49 years were analysed. Changes in treatment were made by the physician based on an assessment of the residual symptoms present, with persistent depressed mood, fatigue and anhedonia being the most common problems. The most commonly used medications included antidepressants (e.g., escitalopram, venlafaxine, sertraline), atypical antipsychotics (e.g., quetiapine), and classic antipsychotics (e.g., chlorprothixene). Adjustments to pharmacological treatment were most commonly made by manipulating antidepressants, changing the active ingredient, or modifying their daily doses. Discussion and conclusion: The present naturalistic observational study mapped the reasons for the change in pharmacological approach and the actual nature of the newly chosen treatment strategy. The observed heterogeneity of pharmacological treatment manipulation patterns confirms that the treatment of depressive episodes in clinical practice follows an individualized approach for each individual patient. Here, we encounter a desire for the application of recommended practices in the treatment of this widespread mental illness, which very effectively describe the treatment of initial episodes and, in the case of recurrent episodes, should provide the basic principles of a therapeutic approach to the management of this problem. The finding that, even in the context of recurrent episodes of periodic depressive disorder, effective intervention can be achieved by increasing the dose of antidepressant medication or changing it, supports the drive to educate specialists and practitioners in these basic treatment approaches. Overall, the study provides information that reflects common clinical practice and underscores the importance of initiating a strategy to change the pharmacological approach in any patient, at any stage of the treatment of this mental illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]