Table 1.
Summary of baseline characteristics. Values are numbers (percentages) unless stated otherwise
| Characteristic | Randomised
|
Patient preference
|
P value for comparison of 4 groups | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Counselling (n=52) | Antidepressants (n=51) | P value | Counselling (n=140) | Antidepressants (n=80) | P value | |||
| Men | 16 (31) | 8 (16) | 0.12 | 36 (26) | 21 (26) | 1.00 | 0.34 | |
| Mean (SD) age | 37.3 (11.2) | 38.4 (11.8) | 0.60 | 36.4 (10.1) | 38.1 (12.7) | 0.27 | 0.60 | |
| Married* | 17/35 (49) | 23/36 (64) | 0.29 | 58/101 (57) | 25/45 (56) | 1.00 | 0.63 | |
| Living alone* | 7/35 (20) | 2/36 (6) | 0.14 | 11/101 (11) | 5/45 (11) | 1.00 | 0.29 | |
| Family history of depression* | 15/34 (44) | 19/36 (53) | 0.47 | 51/94 (54) | 21/43 (49) | 0.56 | 0.76 | |
| Mean (SD) age at onset* | 33.3 (24.2) | 35.6 (18.6) | 0.65 | 35.1 (20.7) | 34.1 (20.6) | 0.79 | 0.96 | |
| Social class*: | ||||||||
| I or II | 6/30 (20) | 12/31 (39) | 0.24 | 38/91 (42) | 12/41 (29) | 0.28 | 0.30 | |
| III non-manual or manual | 12/30 (40) | 11/31 (35) | 34/91 (37) | 16/41 (39) | ||||
| IV or V | 12/30 (40) | 8/31 (26) | 19/91 (21) | 13/41 (32) | ||||
| Beck inventory score: | ||||||||
| Mean (SD) | 27.1 (8.0) | 27.0 (8.0) | 0.97 | 25.8 (7.7) | 25.4 (9.5) | 0.78 | 0.57 | |
| Not known | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | ||||
| Research diagnostic criteria score: | ||||||||
| 4 or 5 | 19 (37) | 14 (27) | 0.44 | 59 (42) | 22 (28) | 0.04 | 0.10 | |
| 6-8 | 32 (62) | 36 (71) | 81 (58) | 58 (73) | ||||
| Not known | 1 (2) | 1 (2) | 0 | 0 | ||||
| General practitioner's rating: | ||||||||
| Mild | 12 (24) | 10 (19) | 0.29 | 45 (32) | 10 (13) | 00.001 | 0.004 | |
| Moderate | 33 (66) | 31 (61) | 87 (62) | 62 (78) | ||||
| Severe | 3 (6) | 8 (16) | 5 (4) | 8 (10) | ||||
| Not known | 2 (4)† | 2 (4) | 3 (2) | 0 | ||||
*
Some patients did not have the telephone interview immediately after recruitment.
†
Data were not completed by the general practitioner for two further patients.