| Summary: | Objective: evaluating a program to treat patients with depression in seven cities of Antioquia, Colombia in 2007. Methodology: a quasi-experimental study comparing patients treated in seven municipal hospitals whose staff received training, advice and technical assistance for depression (intervention group) and patients of seven municipal hospitals where they received training (control group) was performed. Information was gathered from 204 cases of depression through the medical records of patients from selected hospitals and from interviews to patients after three months of treatment. Depressive symptoms were evaluated with the Zung test. Results: statistically significant differences were found when comparing the proportion of patients with adequate treatment in the exposed cohort, which doubled the proportion of patients who discontinued treatment in the unexposed cohort. The success rate, (comprising by: receiving appropriate treatment, no discontinuation and did not develop depression within three months of treatment) showed a r r of 2.39 (1.49-3.8) Discussion: depression is a condition whose results may depend on the therapeutic alliance between the patient and the team of professionals committed to the treatment. Exogenous factors affecting the evolution of depression which were not controlled in this research should also be taken into account
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