Attitudes and behaviors of general practitioners when working with patients with a depressive episode

General Medicine, 2023, 25(6), 3-8.

E. Tumbeva, Ts. Valentinova

Department of General Medicine, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University ‒ Pleven

Abstract. Depressive disorders are common in primary health care clinics both nationally and overseas. Every 10th patient who visits their GP has depressive complaints. Moreover, depression is a disease of social significance, which not only causes suffering for the patient, but also has economic and social consequences for the society. General practitioners (GPs), being the first contact of these patients with the domestic healthcare system, must possess the necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to solve this type of problem. A serious evaluation of the possibility of prescribing therapy in the conditions of General Medical Practice (GMP) or referring the patient to a specialist is required. The purpose of the study was to evaluate and analyze the attitudes and behaviors of GPs during depressive episodes in the General Medical Practice. An anonymous individual survey among 300 GPs from eight regions of the country for the period July–December 2022, was conducted. Of all the respondents who had at least one patient with a depressive episode, 96.3% reported examining patients with more than one depressive episode. According to the respondents, the data on frequency, affected sex, seasonality and age of first occurrence match the data from the literature. Male GPs are more confident in prescribing primary therapy for patients with a depressive episode, but also more often than female GPs consider that they must necessarily consult their patients with a psychiatrist. 99.3% of GPs do not use validated questionnaires to detect a depressive episode. They think the main reason for this is the lack of time. The surveyed physicians recognize the complexity of the problem for the patient and society as well as their own vital roles in providing primary mental health services to their patients.

Key words: general medical practice, depressive episode, consultation

Address for correspondence: Elka Tumbeva, DM, e-mail: e.tumbeva@abv.bg