A clinical evaluation of depressives found in a rural survey in India

Abstract

Those who were labelled as depressives in a rural survey were randomly divided into a Medicine group (who received antidepressive drug treatment), a Placebo group (who received placebo) and a Natural Process group (who received no treatment). The depth of their depression was assessed by Hamilton's Depressive Rating Scale before the beginning of the trial, on the 14th day and on the 28th day of trial. They were compared with a matched group of healthy controls and again with a matched group of depressives who attended an urban clinic for treatment. The results indicate that the rural depressives who never sought treatment voluntarily were not different from those who sought treatment in clinics, so far as their response to treatment is concerned.