Abstract Despite having an organized mental health law and policy, a majority of patients with depression remain underreported and undertreated in Brazil. The study aimed to quantitatively map and identify the deficiencies in patient journey touchpoints in terms of awareness, screening, diagnosis, treatment, adherence, and control for depression in Brazil using a semi-systematic approach highlighting the knowledge gaps in the existing literature. A structured search of Embase, MEDLINE, and BIOSIS databases was conducted to identify the relevant studies published in English, Portuguese, and Spanish from 2006 to 2021. An unstructured search was also conducted on Google or government websites with no restrictions. To address the data gaps, anecdotal data were also considered. Weighted or simple means were calculated for the pooled data. Of 3175 articles retrieved, 10 articles met the inclusion criteria. Synthesized evidence indicates that the pooled prevalence of depression in Brazil ranged from 4.1% to 21.8%; 42.4% of patients had awareness of depression, 37.5% underwent screening, 18.7% had a diagnosis, and 54.4% received treatment. No data on adherence and control were available. The study findings highlight the need for more research to accurately estimate the common patient journey touchpoints for depression to achieve better clinical outcomes in Brazil.

A associação entre depressão e doenças clínicas é muito freqüente, levando a pior evolução tanto do quadro psiquiátrico como da doença clínica, com menor aderência às orientações terapêuticas, além de maior morbidade e mortalidade. A depressão muitas vezes é subdiagnosticada e subtratada, principalmente pela presença de sintomas depressivos, que também podem ocorrer em doenças crônicas, como fadiga e anorexia. Diversas doenças estão claramente associadas à depressão, com maior destaque para as doenças cardiovasculares, endocrinológicas, neurológicas, renais, oncológicas e outras síndromes dolorosas crônicas. Os autores discutem as evidências na literatura que demonstram essa associação, com enfoque nos avanços em fisiopatologia e terapêutica psiquiátrica.

The association between major depression and other clinical conditions is frequently observed, leading to worse prognosis both on the psychiatric and clinical conditions, poorer compliance with therapy and increased rates of morbidity and mortality. Depression is often under diagnosed and under treated, mainly when depressive symptoms may be attributed to chronic diseases, such as fatigue and anorexia. Several diseases are clearly linked to depression, typical examples are cardiovascular disease, endocrinological conditions, kidney diseases, neoplasias, and chronic pain. The authors review and discuss the evidence in the literature that suggest such associations, with focus on the advances on the physiopathology and the psychiatric management.

O esvaziamento gástrico foi medido por meio de refeição sólida marcada com 99mTc em 11 pacientes que atendiam os critérios de "depressão maior" do DSM-III-R antes e após o tratamento com fluoxetina (20 a 40mg por dia) durante nove semanas. Após o tratamento não se observou redução no tempo para o esvaziamento gástrico de metade da refeição de prova (T1/2) em relação a antes do tratamento. Pode-se, no entanto, separar os pacientes em dois subgrupos: 1) Os que exibiram resposta ao antidepressivo (redução do escore da Escala de Depressão de Hamilton >50%) e apresentaram redução significativa do T1/2 (p<0,001) e 2) Os pacientes que, sem resposta ao tratamento (redução do escore da Escala de Depressão de Hamilton £50%), não apresentaram redução do T1/2 (p>0,10). Concluímos que a alteração da velocidade do esvaziamento gástrico pode estar correlacionada à resposta ao tratamento antidepressivo e que sua redução ou aumento não pode ser atribuída à ação farmacológica da fluoxetina sobre o estômago, mas antes ao efeito da melhoria da depressão sobre a motilidade gástrica.

The gastric emptying was evaluated with 99mTc-labeled solidphase meal in 11 patients who met DSM-III-R criteria for Major Depression, before and after treatment with fluoxetine (20 to 40mg/day) for nine weeks. After teatment the patients did not show increased velocity to reduction of half probe meal radioactivity in gastric area (T1/2). On the other hand, we observed two groups of patients: 1) The group that responded to antidepressant (Hamilton Depression Scale score reduction >50%), that showed a significant decrease of T1/2 (p<0,001) and 2) The group without response to treatment (Hamilton Depression Scale score reduction £50%) who did not show a significant decrease of T1/2 (p>0,10). We conclude that the modification in the gastric emptying velocity is related to the degree of response to antidepressant teatment, and velocity reduction or increase cannot be attributed to fluoxetine pharmachological activity over stomach but in fact to the impact of depression relief on gastric motility.