The effect and safety of probiotics on depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

PURPOSE

With the escalating social pressures, there has been a continuous rise in the prevalence of depression among the population, leading to substantial healthcare burdens. Moreover, conventional pharmacological interventions still exhibit certain limitations. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of probiotics in the treatment of depression.

METHODS

Randomized controlled trials of probiotics in treating depressive symptoms were retrieved from Pubmed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wan Fang database, and CNKI between the establishment of the database and March 2022. The primary outcome was Beck's depression rating scale (BDI) scores, while the secondary outcomes were depression scores on the DASS-21 scale, biochemical indicators (IL-6, NO, and TNF-α levels), and adverse events. In addition, Revman 5.3 was used for Meta-analysis and quality evaluation, and Stata 17 was used for the Egger test and Begg's test. A total of 776 patients, including 397 and 379 patients in the experimental and control groups, respectively, were included.

RESULTS

The total BDI score of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group (MD = - 1.98, 95%CI - 3.14 to - 0.82), and the score of DASS (MD = 0.90, 95%CI - 1.17 to 2.98), the IL-6 level (SMD = - 0.55, 95%CI - 0.88 to - 0.23), the NO level (MD = 5.27, 95% CI 2.51 to 8.03), and the TNF-α level (SMD = 0.19, 95% CI - 0.25 to 0.63).

CONCLUSION

The findings substantiate the therapeutic potential of probiotics in mitigating depressive symptoms by significantly reducing Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) scores and alleviating the overall manifestation of depression.

"We are the sun for our community:" Partnering with community health workers/promotores to adapt, deliver and evaluate a home-based collaborative care model to improve equity in access to quality depression care for older U.S. Latino adults who are underserved

Background

While depression is a leading cause of poor health, less than half of older adults receive adequate care. Inequities in both access and outcomes are even more pronounced for socially disadvantaged older adults. The collaborative care model (CCM) has potential to reduce this burden through community-based organizations (CBOs) who serve these populations. However, CCM has been understudied in diverse cultural and resource-constrained contexts. We evaluated the implementation and effectiveness of PEARLS, a home-based CCM adapted with and for community health workers/promotores (CHWs/Ps).

Methods

We used an instrumental case study design. Our case definition is a community-academic partnership to build CHW/P capacity for evidence-based depression care for older U.S. Latino adults in the Inland Empire region of California (2017-2020). We aimed to understand adaptations to fit local context; acceptability, feasibility, and fidelity; clinical effectiveness; and contextual determinants of implementation success or failure. Data sources included quantitative and qualitative administrative and evaluation data from participants and providers. We used descriptive statistics and paired t-tests to characterize care delivery and evaluate effectiveness post-intervention, and deductive thematic analysis to answer other aims.

Findings

This case study included 152 PEARLS participants and nine data sources (N = 67 documents). The CBO including their CHWs/Ps partnered with the external implementation team made adaptations to PEARLS content, context, and implementation strategies to support CHWs/Ps and older adults. PEARLS was acceptable, feasible and delivered with fidelity. Participants showed significant reductions in depression severity at 5 months (98% clinical response rate [mean (SD), 13.7 (3.9) drop in pre/post PHQ-9; p < 0.001] and received support for 2.6 social needs on average. PEARLS delivery was facilitated by its relative advantage, adaptability, and trialability; the team's collective efficacy, buy-in, alignment with organization mission, and ongoing reflection and evaluation during implementation. Delivery was challenged by weak partnerships with clinics for participant referral, engagement, reimbursement, and sustainability post-grant funding.

Discussion

This case study used existing data to learn how home-based CCM was adapted by and for CHWs/Ps to reduce health inequities in late-life depression and depression care among older Latino immigrants. The CBOs and CHWs/Ps strong trust and rapport, addressing social and health needs alongside depression care, and regular internal and external coaching and consultation, appeared to drive successful implementation and effectiveness.

Personalized care planning and shared decision making in collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Collaborative care is an evidence-based approach to improving outcomes for common mental disorders in primary care. Efforts are underway to broadly implement the collaborative care model, yet the extent to which this model promotes person-centered mental health care has been little studied. The aim of this study was to describe practices related to two patient and family engagement strategies-personalized care planning and shared decision making-within collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders in primary care.

METHODS

We conducted an update of a 2012 Cochrane review, which involved searches in Cochrane CCDAN and CINAHL databases, complemented by additional database, trial registry, and cluster searches. We included programs evaluated in a clinical trials targeting adults or youth diagnosed with depressive or anxiety disorders, as well as sibling reports related to these trials. Pairs of reviewers working independently selected the studies and data extraction for engagement strategies was guided by a codebook. We used narrative synthesis to report on findings.

RESULTS

In total, 150 collaborative care programs were analyzed. The synthesis showed that personalized care planning or shared decision making were practiced in fewer than half of programs. Practices related to personalized care planning, and to a lesser extent shared decision making, involved multiple members of the collaborative care team, with care managers playing a pivotal role in supporting patient and family engagement. Opportunities for quality improvement were identified, including fostering greater patient involvement in collaborative goal setting and integrating training and decision aids to promote shared decision making.

CONCLUSION

This review suggests that personalized care planning and shared decision making could be more fully integrated within collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders. Their absence in some programs is a missed opportunity to spread person-centered mental health practices in primary care.

The care manager meeting the patients' unique needs using the care manager model-A qualitative study of experienced care managers

Background

Implementation of a care manager in a collaborative care team in Swedish primary care via a randomized controlled trial showed successful outcome. As four years have elapsed since the implementation of care managers, it is important to gain knowledge about the care managers’ long-term skills and experiences. The purpose was to examine how long-term experienced care managers perceived and experienced their role and how they related to and applied the care manager model.

Method

Qualitative study with a focus group and interviews with nine nurses who had worked for more than two years as care managers for common mental disorders. The analysis used Systematic Text Condensation.

Results

Four codes arose from the analysis: Person-centred; Acting outside the comfort zone; Successful, albeit some difficulties; Pride and satisfaction. The care manager model served as a handrail for the care manager, providing a trustful and safe environment. Difficulties sometimes arose in the collaboration with other professionals.

Conclusion

This study shows that long-term experience of working as a care manager contributed to an in-depth insight and understanding of the care manager model and enabled care managers to be flexible and act outside the comfort zone when providing care and support to the patient. A new concept emerged during the analytical process, i.e. the Anchored Care Manager, which described the special competencies gained through experience.

Trial registration

NCT02378272 Care Manager—Coordinating Care for Person Centered Management of Depression in Primary Care (PRIM—CARE).

Strategies for engaging patients and families in collaborative care programs for depression and anxiety disorders: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Patients and families are often referred to as important partners in collaborative mental health care (CMHC). However, how to meaningfully engage them as partners remains unclear. We aimed to identify strategies for engaging patients and families in CMHC programs for depression and anxiety disorders.

METHODS

We updated a Cochrane review of CMHC programs for depression and anxiety disorders. Searches were conducted in Cochrane CCDAN and CINAHL, complemented by additional database searches, trial registry searches, and cluster searches for 'sibling' articles. Coding and data extraction of engagement strategies was an iterative process guided by a conceptual framework. We used narrative synthesis and descriptive statistics to report on findings.

FINDINGS

We found 148 unique CMCH programs, described in 578 articles. Most programs (96%) featured at least one strategy for engaging patients or families. Programs adopted 15 different strategies overall, with a median of two strategies per program (range 0-9 strategies). The most common strategies were patient education (87% of programs) and self-management supports (47% of programs). Personalized care planning, shared decision making, and family or peer supports were identified in fewer than one third of programs.

LIMITATIONS

Our search strategy was designed to capture programs evaluated in clinical trials and so other innovative programs not studied in trials were likely missed.

CONCLUSION

Most CMHC programs for depression and anxiety disorders adopted a limited number of strategies to engage patients and families in their care. However, this review identifies numerous strategies that can be used to strengthen the patient- and family-centeredness of collaborative care.

A stepped care intervention for non-specialist health workers' management of depression in the Mental Health in Primary Care (MeHPriC) project, Lagos, Nigeria: A cluster randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

The study aimed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a developed stepped care intervention for management of depression in primary care.

METHODS

A cluster randomised controlled trial with primary care centres (PHCs) as unit of randomization. Five PHCs were randomised to stepped care intervention (SCI) group and another 5 PHCs were randomised to enhanced usual care (eUCA) control group. Participants were adults (18-60 years) with clinically significant depression symptoms. The primary outcome was clinical recovery at 12th months follow up. The outcome assessors were blinded to the cluster allocation.

RESULTS

There were 456 participants in SCI group and 451 in eUCA group. At 12 months, clinical recovery was significantly higher in the SCI group compared with the eUCA group (60.3% vs 18.2%, ARR 3.10, 95% CI 2.15-3.87). The SCI group also had significantly better quality of life and lesser rates of disability, death or deliberate self-harm compared to the eUCA group. Subgroup analysis within the SCI group showed no difference in clinical outcomes between participants receiving problem solving therapy (PST) and those receiving antidepressants.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study showed that stepped care intervention significantly improved clinical outcomes at 12 months. This lends support to growing evidence of clinically effective intervention for depression at primary care level in less resourced countries.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN66243738.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a randomized study of depression treatment options in primary care suggests stepped-care treatment may have economic benefits

BACKGROUND

The stepped-care pathway (SCP) model has previously been found to be clinically effective for depressive disorder in some studies, but not all. Several groups have suggested that a stepped-care approach is the most appropriate in primary care. There is relatively little information, however, regarding which specific stepped-care pathway may be best. This analysis aimed to determine cost-effectiveness of a stepped-care pathway for depression in adults in primary care versus standard care (SC), treatment-as-usual (TAU), and online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT).

METHODS

We conducted a randomized trial with 1400 participants and 12-week follow-up to assess the impact of the four treatment options on health-related quality of life and depression severity. Costs for the groups were calculated on the basis of physician, outpatient, and inpatient services using administrative data. We then calculated the incremental cost-effectiveness ratios using this information. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves and incremental cost-effectiveness scatterplots were created using Monte Carlo simulation with 10,000 replications. A subgroup analysis was conducted for participants who screened as depressed at baseline.

RESULTS

For all participants, TAU was the most expensive followed by CBT, SC, and SCP. QALYs were highest in SCP, followed by SC, CBT, and TAU. In the depressed subgroup, TAU was still the most expensive, followed by SC, SCP, and CBT, while QALYs were still highest in SCP, followed by SC, CBT, and TAU. The cost-effectiveness acceptability curves suggested that SCP had a higher probability for cost-effectiveness than the other three alternatives in all participants. In the depressed subgroup, CBT was associated with the highest probability of cost-effectiveness for a willingness-to-pay cut-off of less than approximately $50,000, while SCP was the highest at a cut-off higher than $50,000. There is considerable uncertainty around the cost-effectiveness estimates.

CONCLUSIONS

Our analysis showed that even where there are no clinically significant differences in health outcomes between treatment approaches, there may be economic benefit from implementing the stepped-care model. While more work is required to identify the most clinically effective versions of a stepped-care pathway, our findings suggest that the care pathway may have potential to improve health care system value.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

NCT01975207 . The trial was prospectively registered on 4 November 2013.

Depression Outcomes in Adults Attending Family Practice Were Not Improved by Screening, Stepped-Care, or Online CBT during a 12-Week Study when Compared to Controls in a Randomized Trial

There is uncertainty regarding possible benefits of screening for depression in family practice, as well as the most effective treatment approach when depression is identified. Here, we examined whether screening patients for depression in primary care, and then treating them with different modalities, was better than treatment-as-usual (TAU) alone. Screening was carried out for depression using the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), with a score of ≥10 indicating significant depressive symptoms. PHQ-9 scores were given to family physicians prior to patients being seen (except for the Control group). Patients (n = 1,489) were randomized to one of four groups. Group #1 were controls (n = 432) in which PHQ-9 was administered, but results were not shared. Group #2 was screening followed by TAU (n = 426). Group #3 was screening followed by both TAU and the opportunity to use an online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) treatment program (n = 440). Group #4 utilized an evidence-based Stepped-care pathway for depression (n = 191, note that this was not available at all clinics). Of the study sample 889 (60%) completed a second PHQ-9 rating at 12 weeks. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline PHQ-9 scores between these groups. Compared to baseline, mean PHQ-9 scores decreased significantly in the depressed patients over 12 weeks, but there were no statistically significant differences between any groups at 12 weeks. Thus, for those who were depressed at baseline Control group (Group #1) scores decreased from 15.3 ± 4.2 to 4.0 ± 2.6 (p < 0.001), Screening group (Group #2) scores decreased from 15.5 ± 3.9 to 4.6 ± 3.0 (p < 0.001), Online CBT group (Group #3) scores decreased from 15.4 ± 3.8 to 3.4 ± 2.7 (p < 0.01), and the Stepped-care pathway group (Group #4) scores decreased from 15.3 ± 3.6 to 5.4 ± 2.8 (p < 0.05). In conclusion, these findings from this controlled randomized study do not suggest that using depression screening tools in family practice improves outcomes. They also suggest that much of the depression seen in primary care spontaneously resolves and do not support suggestions that more complex treatment programs or pathways improve depression outcomes in primary care. Replication studies are required due to study limitations.

Strategies and impacts of patient and family engagement in collaborative mental healthcare: protocol for a systematic and realist review

INTRODUCTION

Collaborative mental healthcare (CMHC) has garnered worldwide interest as an effective, team-based approach to managing common mental disorders in primary care. However, questions remain about how CMHC works and why it works in some circumstances but not others. In this study, we will review the evidence on one understudied but potentially critical component of CMHC, namely the engagement of patients and families in care. Our aims are to describe the strategies used to engage people with depression or anxiety disorders and their families in CMHC and understand how these strategies work, for whom and in what circumstances.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We are conducting a review with systematic and realist review components. Review part 1 seeks to identify and describe the patient and family engagement strategies featured in CMHC interventions based on systematic searches and descriptive analysis of these interventions. We will use a 2012 Cochrane review of CMHC as a starting point and perform new searches in multiple databases and trial registers to retrieve more recent CMHC intervention studies. In review part 2, we will build and refine programme theories for each of these engagement strategies. Initial theory building will proceed iteratively through content expert consultations, electronic searches for theoretical literature and review team brainstorming sessions. Cluster searches will then retrieve additional data on contexts, mechanisms and outcomes associated with engagement strategies, and pairs of review authors will analyse and synthesise the evidence and adjust initial programme theories.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

Our review follows a participatory approach with multiple knowledge users and persons with lived experience of mental illness. These partners will help us develop and tailor project outputs, including publications, policy briefs, training materials and guidance on how to make CMHC more patient-centred and family-centred.

PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER

CRD42015025522.

Evaluation of the performance of general practitioners in a collaborative care program by employing simulated patients

OBJECTIVE

To compare the performance of the general practitioners (GPs) in a collaborative care (CC) program in Iran with a control group of GPs in the usual care by employing simulated patients.

METHODS

Six trained simulated patients (SPs) made unannounced visits to 26 GP offices participating in the CC program and to 26 age and sex matched controls. The SPs role played five clinical scenarios of mental disorders and filled out checklists to evaluate the GPs' performance regarding interviewing, taking history, establishing rapport, showing empathy, and giving advice to patients. Additionally, the GPs' plan of care and prescriptions were evaluated later by a psychiatrist based on the documents provided by the SPs.

RESULTS

There was a significant difference between collaborative care and control group physicians in their global performance; CC physicians built up better patient-physician relationship. They performed better in evaluating a psychotic patient, although not better in their management. CC physicians were marginally better in approach to patients with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and mild major depressive disorder.

CONCLUSION

The overall performance of physicians in CC was better than the GPs in the control group in making an effective patient-physician relationship, and evaluating a psychotic patient. The main weakness of the GPs was in proper treatment of the minor and more common psychiatric disorders and in evaluation of patients with suicidal ideations who were in need for emergent referral. Evaluating performance of the practitioners is feasible employing SPs and the findings can be translated into improvements in the available services.

Why should mental health have a place in the post-2015 global health agenda?

Background

The tenure of the Millennium Development Goals formally expires in 2015 and will be replaced with a new development agenda. The MDGs did not include goals or targets for mental health. Despite gathering momentum during the last 15 years, mental health has not enjoyed the same pace of progress as the sectors explicitly mentioned within the MDGs. This article outlines the evidence indicating that mental health should be firmly positioned in post-2015 health policy and discusses strategies to advance the global mental health agenda.

Discussion

The interactions between mental health and other development goals are numerous and complex. Consequently, investment in mental health pays dividends on a wider level than simply psychiatric clinical outcomes. Mental health’s reciprocal relationship with poverty is consistent with the strong focus on economic development, rather than health in isolation, detailed in the post-2015 UN statements to date. A focus on the quality of mental health care provided in low and middle-income countries deserves priority in the new health agenda. This should include consideration of the accessibility of mental health care and the use of evidence based diagnosis and management in these settings.

Summary

Lack of investment in the mental health of populations is a key driver of poverty and inequality in low and middle-income countries. Renewed focus on mental health post-2015 is an opportunity to address the global burden of mental disorders and make a positive impact on the wider development agenda.