The Los Angeles Times (1/4, Roan) reported that in the first study, "a national survey of 15,752 people," researchers "found that nearly 45% of individuals with depression received psychotherapy with no medication," and "only 34% received antidepressants." In the second study, after examining "examined prescribing data from 13,079 psychiatry office visits between 1996 and 2006," investigators discovered that "a growing number of Americans are being prescribed combinations of antidepressants and antipsychotic medications, even though there are few studies that support the benefits of such combinations."

Some minorities even less likely to receive adequate care. Focusing solely on the first study, HealthDay (1/4, Gardner) reported, "researchers looked at individual subgroups, revealing that Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Caribbean blacks were even less likely to receive adequate care than others." Surprisingly, "psychotherapy was more commonly prescribed than antidepressants, especially among Caribbean blacks and African Americans," and "psychotherapy-oriented treatments were more likely to meet treatment recommendations."

WebMD (1/4, Warner) reported that "the results reveal disparities in healthcare access that are often overlooked," the authors said, pointing out that "Mexican-Americans showed the greatest inequalities in mental healthcare in the study. Lack of health insurance partly explained their lack of adequate depression treatment, but did not explain the low rate of depression treatment among African-Americans."

Related Links:

- Depression treatment lacking for many people," Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times, January 4, 2009.

- Most Depressed Adults Going Without Treatment
," Amanda Gardner, HealthDay, January 4, 2009.

- Americans With Depression Are Undertreated," Jennifer Warner, WebMD, January 4, 2010.