Depression is common and disabling in primary health care. Treatment of thi
s condition with simple and inexpensive approaches such as screening or phy
sician education alone do not appear to produce any significant or lasting
benefit. Evidence of the effectiveness of therapeutic interventions for cas
es of mild severity is limited but quite encouraging for major depressive e
pisodes, Both pharmacological and psychological interventions appear almost
equally effective. Evidence is accumulating that, irrespective of the acti
ve components of treatment, more intensive and organized treatment of depre
ssion in primary health care is needed in order to improve clinical and fun
ctional outcomes. However these intensive approaches are more expensive and
a careful cost-benefit analysis of treatment packages and intervention com
ponents is needed to guide further management decisions in this field. Curr
Opin Psychiatry 12:103-107. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.