Abstract
BackgroundThe purpose of this study is to assess the relative effectiveness of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Psychoeducative Group Therapy (PeGT), and treatment as usual (TAU) for patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in municipal psychiatric secondary care in one Finnish region.MethodsAll adult patients (N = 1515) with MDD symptoms referred to secondary care in 2004-2006 were screened. Eligible, consenting patients were assigned randomly to 10-week IPT (N = 46), PeGT (N = 42), or TAU (N = 46) treatment arms. Antidepressant pharmacotherapy among study participants was evaluated. The Hamilton Depression Rating scale (HAM-D) was the primary outcome measure. Assessment occurred at 1, 5, 3, 6, and 12 months. Actual amount of therapists’ labor was also evaluated. All statistical analyses were performed with R software.ResultsAll three treatment cells showed marked improvement at 12-month follow-up. At 3 months, 42 % in IPT, 61 % in PeGT, and 42 % in TAU showed a mean ≥50 % in HAM-D improvement; after 12 months, these values were 61 %, 76 %, and 68 %.Concomitant medication and limited sample size minimized between-treatment differences. Statistically significant differences emerged only between PeGT and TAU favoring PeGT. Secondary outcome measures (CGI-s and SOFAS) showed parallel results.ConclusionAll three treatments notably benefited highly comorbid MDD patients in a public sector secondary care unit.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02314767 (09.12.2014).
Highlights
The purpose of this study is to assess the relative effectiveness of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Psychoeducative Group Therapy (PeGT), and treatment as usual (TAU) for patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in municipal psychiatric secondary care in one Finnish region
Baseline differences in demographic variables and the depression measurements across the three treatment groups were tested using chi-square tests, KruskalWallis test and 1-way analysis of variance
The main focus in mixed models was on the treatment-time interaction (=the effectiveness of intervention)
Summary
The purpose of this study is to assess the relative effectiveness of Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT), Psychoeducative Group Therapy (PeGT), and treatment as usual (TAU) for patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in municipal psychiatric secondary care in one Finnish region. Population surveys in Finland have found a 5 % prevalence of major depressive disorder (MDD), comprising more than 200,000 Finnish adults. Several treatment modalities have shown efficacy in randomized clinical trials for MDD, including pharmacotherapy, interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT), Saloheimo et al BMC Psychiatry (2016) 16:131 cognitive-behavioral therapy, and behavioral activation therapy. Despite clinical practice guidelines issued to improve the quality of antidepressant care, studies have repeatedly shown that a high proportion of depressed Finnish patients receive suboptimal treatment. 10.6 % of depressed patients have ever received weekly psychotherapy during their treatment period [7, 8]. Treatments with established efficacy in highly controlled clinical trials need testing with randomized effectiveness trials in naturalistic settings to see how they work “in real life” [9]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
