Depression — Improving Outcomes of Depression in Primary Care
Citation(s)
Corson K, Gerrity MS, Dobscha SK Screening for depression and suicidality in a VA primary care setting: 2 items are better than 1 item. Am J Manag Care. 2004 Nov;10(11 Pt 2):839-45.
Dobscha SK, Corson K, Solodky J, Gerrity MS Use of videoconferencing for depression research: enrollment, retention, and patient satisfaction. Telemed J E Health. 2005 Feb;11(1):84-9.
Dobscha SK, Winterbottom LM, Snodgrass LS Reducing drug costs at a Veterans Affairs hospital by increasing market-share of generic fluoxetine. Community Ment Health J. 2007 Feb;43(1):75-84. Epub 2006 Sep 22.
Gerrity MS, Corson K, Dobscha SK Screening for posttraumatic stress disorder in VA primary care patients with depression symptoms. J Gen Intern Med. 2007 Sep;22(9):1321-4. Epub 2007 Jul 17.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
