Recovery from depression is more difficult for certain groups of people, according to a study recently published in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry. In the study, principal investigator Wayne Katon, UW professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, indicates that elderly women, people with little education and patients with more severe medical illness are less likely to respond to treatment for depression.

Katon and colleagues studied 300 individuals, aged 18 to 90, who had experienced depression for at least two years. Study participants received the antidepressant paroxetine, a placebo or problem-solving therapy. After the 11-week study, 62 percent of the paroxetine -treated group, 54 percent of the problem solving therapy group and 43 percent of the patients receiving a placebo responded positively to treatment. Seventy percent of the younger female participants recovered from depression by the end of the study, compared to 37 percent of the older females. More females than males responded to the placebo treatment, which is not consistent with previous studies.

The researchers also indicated that patients with lower education were less responsive to the depression therapy. They explained that often people with less education experience stressors associated with low socioeconomic circumstances such as money problems and living in neighborhoods prone to violent crimes. The finding that medically ill participants were less responsive to treatment is consistent with other research and suggests, that depression treatment should be integrated into primary care.