Tailored treatments plans for depression
Individuals who did tolerate the treatment step or went into remission, were then encouraged to enter a 12-month naturalistic follow-up treatment phase, along with those who saw a marked improvement of symptoms or tolerance of the treatment.
There are multiple ways to treat depression, with differing success rates that need optimising so as to produce the best outcomes for patients.
The next paper in our sprint for Mental Health Awareness Month comes from a 2006 psychiatry study from the USA which examined the treatment success/remission rates in relation to the number of treatments an individual received and the length of time they participated in naturalistic follow-up treatment.
A randomised series of treatment trials were implemented on representative proportions of a cohort of outpatients diagnosed with non psychotic major depressive disorder who were candidates for medication as a primary step in their treatment.
If participants did not tolerate (or did not go into remission of symptoms during) a particular treatment step, progressed to the next treatment step. Individuals who did tolerate the treatment step or went into remission, were then encouraged to enter a 12-month naturalistic follow-up treatment phase, along with those who saw a marked improvement of symptoms or tolerance of the treatment.
The participants’ self-reporting symptom scores were used to determine what was classified as treatment tolerance and what was classified as remission.
Issues include the reliance on self-report for the data collection - this is extremely subjective, and may vary depending on the individual’s psychological state or stage of remission at the time of reporting. Although this limitation is well-discussed in the paper.
This study found that when more treatment steps are required to achieve reduced symptoms, increased treatment tolerance or remission; relapse rates are higher during the 12-month follow-up phase. This study highlighted the need for tailored treatment plans on a case-by-case basis in order to provide the best outcomes for patients in the long-term, as well as the need for more broadly effective treatments as opposed to the acute treatments used in this study.
What did you think of the experimental design or the results of this study? Do you think there is anything that could be improved? How has this field come on in the last twenty years?
Please read, rate and leave a review for this study here:
And join our sprint for Mental Health Awareness Month!