Understanding the emotions of patients with inadequate response to antidepressant treatments: results of an international online survey in patients with major depressive disorder

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that nearly half of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) do not achieve an adequate response to antidepressant treatments (ADTs), which impacts patients’ functioning, quality of life (QoL), and well-being. This patient survey aimed to better understand patient perspectives on the emotional impact of experiencing an inadequate response to ADTs. METHODS: An online survey was conducted in 6 countries with respondents diagnosed with MDD and experiencing an inadequate response to ADTs. The survey was designed to explore how patients felt about their medications and health care provider (HCP). Those indicating they were ‘frustrated’ with their medications and/or HCP were asked to provide reasons for their frustration and its impact on their relationship with their HCP and decisions about their treatment. RESULTS: Overall, 2096 respondents with MDD and inadequate response to ADT completed the survey. The most frequent emotion reported by patients regarding their medication was frustration (29.8% of respondents) followed by hopeless (27.4%) and apprehensive/anxious/scared (27.4%). Regarding their HCP, patients reported feeling understood (31.6%) and trusting/confident (28.8%) most often; however, 19.2% reported feelings of frustration. Main reasons for frustration with medication were poor symptom control/lack of efficacy (59.3%) and tolerability issues (19.7%), and the main reasons for frustration with their HCP were not feeling heard (22.4%), ineffective treatment (13.5%) and feeling rushed/lack of quality visit (12.5%). The longer the current episode duration and the greater the disruption to daily living, the more likely the respondents experienced feelings of frustration with medication. Feelings of frustration lead to adherence issues, with 33.3 and 27.3% of respondents indicating their frustration with their medication and HCP, respectively, made them want to quit their medication. Approximately one in six patients frustrated with either their medication and/or HCP indicated their frustration had resulted in them not taking their medication regularly. Frustration with their HCP also impacted patient’s confidence in HCPs abilities (34.7%), sharing less information with their HCP (28.9%) as well as missing appointments (17.4%) and medications (14.5%). CONCLUSIONS: Feelings of frustration are frequent in patients with inadequate response to ADT and this frustration may impact treatment adherence and the patient-HCP relationship. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12888-018-1625-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.