Letter

Study had methodological limitations

BMJ 1996; 312 doi: 10.1136/bmj.312.7029.512c (Published 24 February 1996)
Cite this as: BMJ 1996;312:512.4

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  1. Paulo Menezes,
  2. Glyn Lewis,
  3. Deborah Sharp
  1. Lecturer Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF
  2. Professor of community and epidemiological psychiatry University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff CF4 4XN
  3. Professor of primary health care Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 2PR

    EDITOR,—Christopher Dowrick and Iain Buchan report a trial to assess whether the outcome of depression is influenced by diagnosis by the general practitioner or by disclosure of the results of screening in cases of undetected depression.1 They conclude that disclosure did not improve prognosis at six and 12 months and that treatment of depression in primary care has little influence on the “course of a condition whose major determinants may lie outside the reach of the medical profession.” We believe that this is an unnecessarily gloomy conclusion and reinforces a nihilistic attitude …

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