Clinical response of depressive patients in a Thai psychiatric care setting.

OBJECTIVE: To obtain data on the clinical outcome of patients with depressive disorders after three months psychiatric care in a Thai psychiatric unit. MATERIAL AND METHOD: A prospective descriptive study of 96 patients followed up for 3 months. The severity of depression was measured with the Thai version of the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D Thai). RESULTS: The response rate following 3-months psychiatric care was 67.7% (95% CI = 58.18-77.23). Fifty percent of the patients had a HAM-D Thai score of < 7 at week 12. CONCLUSION: The treatment outcome in the Thai psychiatric setting described is comparable to that reported in other countries.