Depression and non-compliance

NEW YORK, July 26 (Praxis Press) Depression and anxiety are associated with diminished health status and increased health care utilization, but whether patients with these disorders are less likely than other patients to comply with medical treatment recommendations is unclear. DiMatteo and colleagues performed an analysis of studies catalogued on MEDLINE and PsychLit from January 1, 1968, through March 31, 1998 and included studies if they measured patient compliance and depression or anxiety. From the results of 12 articles about depression and 13 about anxiety they found that the associations between anxiety and noncompliance were variable and generally insignificant. In contrast, the relationship between depression and noncompliance was substantial and significant. Compared with non-depressed patients, the odds were three times greater that depressed patients were noncompliant with medical treatment recommendations.