Assessment and treatment of depression in children and young people in the United Kingdom: Comparison of access to services and provision at two time points

Abstract

Depression in young people is common and impairing. There have been significant service changes in the United Kingdom in the last decade, aiming to improve access to evidence-based interventions for depression. However, it is unclear whether youth with depression, first, access services and, second, receive appropriate interventions. In the current study, anonymised data from child and adolescent mental health services were extracted from a 1-year period at two time points (time 1: n = 770; time 2: n = 733). First, these were compared with prevalence and population data. Second, a subsample ( n = 45 at each time point) was evaluated against National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines. Approximately, one-quarter of the expected number of cases (according to population and prevalence data) were seen in the 12 to 18-years age group, and only 2% of expected cases were seen in the 0 to 11-years age group. This was consistent across time points. Adherence to NICE guidance was mostly good at both time points, but there were concerns raised by this evaluation, in particular the use of medication in this population. From time 1 to 2, there was an increase in use of questionnaire measures, but a decrease in the correct completion of risk assessments.