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The likely course of depression may inform treatment decisions. Investigators aimed to determine 10-year trajectories of depression course by using Denmark registry records. Denmark, which has extensive population records, provides virtually universal access to psychiatric services in inpatient, outpatient, and emergency psychiatric hospital settings.
The study involved 11,640 patients with a first diagnosis of adult-onset major depressive disorder (MDD) between 1995 and 2002 (mean age at diagnosis, 31). The researchers identified four major trajectories:
Brief contact with specialist (77% of patients): Two years after the initial MDD diagnosis, patients had a relatively low probability of further psychiatric treatment.
Prolonged initial conta…