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Routine use of operational diagnostic criteria affects the pharmacotherapy of dysthymia: National questionnaire survey of experienced psychiatrists in Japan
Author(s) -
ENDO TARO,
SHIOIRI TOSHIKI,
KITAMURA HIDEAKI,
SOMEYA TOSHIYUKI
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2006.01540.x
Subject(s) - pharmacotherapy , psychiatry , medical diagnosis , medicine , psychology , pathology
The purpose of the present paper was to evaluate, with the use of a questionnaire, how Japanese psychiatrists diagnose and treat a typical adult dysthymia case. Clinicians who routinely use operational diagnostic criteria (ODC) had more correct diagnoses than those who did not. Approximately 70% of psychiatrists who routinely use ODC chose selective serotonin re‐uptake inhibitors (SSRI) as the first choice of treatment, while of those psychiatrists who do not use these criteria, only half prescribed SSRI. This difference was statistically significant ( P = 0.01). The results of the present study suggest that psychiatrists who are familiar with ODC tend to treat dysthymia according to evidence‐based pharmacotherapy.