LANCET Depressed patients have only a 50/50 chance of their condition being detected after a single GP consult, a meta-analysis suggests.However, GPs have a much better strike rate for ruling out the condition in non-depressed patients, the analysis of 41 studies found. Where the prevalence of depression was 20%, a GP would pick up about 10 out of 20 cases of depression. They correctly reassured 65 out of 80 non-depressed patients, thereby falsely diagnosing 15 people as depressed, the study authors said.The actual prevalence of depression -- determined mainly by standardised diagnostic interviews -- was 10% in Australia; the lowest among the countries included in the meta-analysis.Reassessing those patients who had an unclear depression classification would increase the accuracy of...
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