Tracking depression scores when treatment is hard
In hard-to-treat depression, symptom scores (PHQ-9) should be tracked repeatedly to guide changes.
The silent should: In hard-to-treat depression, symptom scores (PHQ-9) should be tracked repeatedly to guide changes.
In our analysis of de-identified U.S. psychiatric records, this step was missing 73% of the time it should have happened.
This page is information to help you ask questions — it is not medical advice, and you should never start, stop, or change a medication on your own. Bring these questions to your clinician.
Questions for your doctor the next time you see them
Copy a line and ask it — these are questions, never instructions to change treatment.
- Could we track my depression score regularly to guide treatment changes?
- Can we measure how I'm doing at each visit?
This page is informational and not medical advice. It describes care patterns across a population, not your situation. Bring these questions to a clinician who knows you.
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