Relative cost-effectiveness of treatments for adolescent depression: 36-week results from the TADS randomized trial

Economic Evaluation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression: A Systematic Review

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of cost-utility studies of internet-based and face-to-face cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for depression from childhood to adulthood and to examine their reporting and methodological quality.

METHODS

A structured search for cost-utility studies concerning CBT for depression was performed in 7 comprehensive databases from their inception to July 2020. Two reviewers independently screened the literature, abstracted data, and assessed quality using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards and Quality of Health Economic Studies checklists. The primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) across all studies. To make a relevant comparison of the ICERs across the identified studies, cost data were inflated to the year 2020 and converted into US dollars.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight studies were included in this review, of which 26 studies (68%) were deemed of high methodological quality and 12 studies (32%) of fair quality. Despite differences in study designs and settings, the conclusions of most included studies for adult depression were general agreement; they showed that face-to-face CBT monotherapy or combination therapy compared with antidepressants and usual care for adult depression were cost-effective from the societal, health system, or payer perspective (ICER -$241 212.4/quality-adjusted life-year [QALY] to $33 032.47/QALY, time horizon 12-60 months). Internet-based CBT regardless of guided or unguided also has a significant cost-effectiveness advantage (ICER -$37 717.52/QALY to $73 841.34/QALY, time horizon 3-36 months). In addition, CBT was cost-effective in preventing depression (ICER -$23 932.07/QALY to $26 092.02/QALY, time horizon 9-60 months). Nevertheless, the evidence for the cost-effectiveness of CBT for children and adolescents was still ambiguous.

CONCLUSIONS

Fair or high-quality evidence showed that CBT monotherapy or combination therapy for adult depression was cost-effective; whether CBT-related therapy was cost-effective for children and adolescents depression remains inconclusive.

Moderators and Predictors of Response After 36 Weeks of Treatment in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS)

This study investigated pretreatment variables associated with depression severity in adolescents following maintenance treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). Data was derived from the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS). Participants received one of three treatments: cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), fluoxetine (FLX), or combined CBT and fluoxetine (COMB). Participants received 12 weeks of acute treatment, 6 weeks of consolidation treatment, and 18 weeks of maintenance treatment (N = 327, M age = 14.62 yrs). Outcome was measured by the Children's Depression Rating Scale-Revised. Results showed adolescents with shorter depressive episodes, better global functioning, less suicidal ideation, better health/social functioning, and greater expectancy of positive treatment response were more likely to have lower depression severity following 36 weeks of treatment, regardless of modality. Adolescents with lower initial depression demonstrated lower depression severity if treated with CBT. FLX was more effective in reducing depression severity in adolescents with severe baseline depression than for those with mild or moderate depression. Adolescents with higher family incomes were more likely to have lower depression severity if they received CBT only. In conclusion, adolescents with shorter depressive episodes, better health, social, and global functioning, less suicidal ideation, and greater expectancy for treatment at baseline respond equally well to CBT, fluoxetine, and combined treatment. Adolescents who are more severely depressed at baseline may have a better treatment response if they are treated with FLX; whereas adolescents of higher income are more likely to have a better response if they receive CBT only.

Economics and mental health: the current scenario

Economics and mental health are intertwined. Apart from the accumulating evidence of the huge economic impacts of mental ill-health, and the growing recognition of the effects that economic circumstances can exert on mental health, governments and other budget-holders are putting increasing emphasis on economic data to support their decisions. Here we consider how economic evaluation (including cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis and related techniques) can contribute evidence to inform the development of mental health policy strategies, and to identify some consequences at the treatment or care level that are of relevance to service providers and funding bodies. We provide an update and reflection on economic evidence relating to mental health using a lifespan perspective, analyzing costs and outcomes to shed light on a range of pressing issues. The past 30 years have witnessed a rapid growth in mental health economics, but major knowledge gaps remain. Across the lifespan, clearer evidence exists in the areas of perinatal depression identification-plus-treatment; risk-reduction of mental health problems in childhood and adolescence; scaling up treatment, particularly psychotherapy, for depression; community-based early intervention and employment support for psychosis; and cognitive stimulation and multicomponent carer interventions for dementia. From this discussion, we pull out the main challenges that are faced when trying to take evidence from research and translating it into policy or practice recommendations, and from there to actual implementation in terms of better treatment and care.

Healthcare utilization costs of emerging adults with mood and anxiety disorders in an early intervention treatment program compared to a matched cohort

AIM

The First Episode Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program (FEMAP) provides treatment to emerging adults with mood and anxiety disorders in an accessible, youth-friendly environment. We sought to investigate FEMAP's impact on the costs of care.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective observational study of one-year health service costs using linked administrative datasets to compare emerging adults treated at FEMAP (FEMAP users) to propensity-score matched controls (non-users). Costs from the perspective of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, included drug benefit claims, inpatient, physician and ambulatory care services. We used bootstrapping to perform unadjusted comparisons between FEMAP users and non-users, by cost category and overall. We performed risk-adjusted comparison of overall costs using generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS

FEMAP users (n = 366) incurred significantly lower costs compared to non-users (n = 660), for inpatient services (-$784, 95% confidence interval [CI] -$1765, -$28), ambulatory care services (-$90, 95% CI -$175, -$14) and drug benefit claims (-$47, 95% CI -$115,-$4) and significantly higher physician services costs ($435, 95% CI $276, $581) over 1 year. The unadjusted difference in overall costs was not significant (-$853, 95% CI -$2048, $142). Following adjustment for age, sex and age at first mental health diagnosis, the difference of -$914 (95% CI (-$2747, $919)) was also not significant.

CONCLUSIONS

FEMAP was associated with significantly lower costs of inpatient and ambulatory care services, and higher costs of physician services, however we are unable to conclude that FEMAP is cost-saving overall.

Effect of Outpatient Service Utilization on Hospitalizations and Emergency Visits Among Youths With Autism Spectrum Disorder

OBJECTIVE

Psychiatric hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits occur more frequently for youths with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). One mechanism that may reduce the likelihood of these events is utilization of home and community-based care. Using commercial claims data and a rigorous analytical framework, this retrospective study examined whether spending on outpatient services for ASD, including occupational, physical, and speech therapies and other behavioral interventions, reduced the likelihood of psychiatric hospitalizations and ED visits.

METHODS

The study sample was composed of >100,000 children and young adults with ASD and commercial insurance from every state between 2008 and 2012. The authors estimated maximum-likelihood complementary log-log link survival models with robust standard errors. The outcomes of interest were a hospitalization or an ED visit with an associated psychiatric diagnosis code (ICD-9-CM 290 through 319) in a given week.

RESULTS

An increase of $125 in weekly spending on ASD-specific outpatient services in the 7 to 14 weeks prior to a given week reduced the likelihood of a psychiatric hospitalization in that week by 2%. ASD-specific outpatient spending during the 6 weeks prior to a psychiatric hospitalization did not decrease risk of hospitalization. Spending on ASD-specific outpatient services did not reduce the likelihood of a psychiatric ED visit.

CONCLUSIONS

The financial burden associated with ASD is extensive, and psychiatric hospitalizations remain the most expensive type of care, costing more than $4,000 per week on average. Identifying the mechanisms by which psychiatric hospitalizations occur may reduce the likelihood of these events.

Patterns, trends and methodological associations in the measurement and valuation of childhood health utilities

PURPOSE

To systematically assess patterns and temporal changes in the measurement and valuation of childhood health utilities and associations between methodological factors.

METHODS

Studies reporting childhood health utilities using direct or indirect valuation methods, published by June 2017, were identified through PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EconLit, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and PEDE. The following were explored: patterns in tariff application; linear trends in numbers of studies/samples and paediatric cost-utility analyses (CUAs) and associations between them; changes in proportions of studies/samples within characteristic-based categories over pre-specified periods; impact of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance on primary UK research and associations between valuation method, age and methodological factors.

RESULTS

335 studies with 3974 samples covering all ICD-10 chapters, 23 valuation methods, 12 respondent types and 42 countries were identified by systematic review. 34.0% of samples using indirect methods compatible with childhood applied childhood-derived tariffs. There was no association between numbers of studies/samples and numbers of CUAs. Compared to 1990-2008, 2009-June 2017 saw a significant fall in the proportion of studies using case series; significant compositional changes across ICD-10 chapters and significantly higher sample proportions using childhood-specific and adult-specific indirect valuation methods, and based on pre-adolescents, self-assessment, self-administration and experienced health states. NICE guidance was weakly effective in promoting reference methods. Associations between valuation method, age and methodological factors were significant.

CONCLUSION

1990-2017 witnessed significant changes in primary research on childhood health utilities. Health technology assessment agencies should note the equivocal effect of methodological guidance on primary research.

The Child and Adolescent Services Assessment: Interrater Reliability and Predictors of Rater Disagreement

The current study evaluated the interrater reliability of the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment (CASA), a widely used structured interview measuring pediatric mental health service use. Interviews (N = 72) were randomly selected from a pediatric effectiveness trial, and audio was coded by an independent rater. Regressions were employed to identify predictors of rater disagreement. Interrater reliability was high for items (> 94%) and summary metrics (ICC > .79) across service sectors. Predictors of disagreement varied by domain; significant predictors indexed higher clinical severity or social disadvantage. Results support the CASA as a reliable and robust assessment of pediatric service use, but administrators should be alert when assessing vulnerable populations.

Practitioner Review: Therapeutics of unipolar major depressions in adolescents

BACKGROUND

Over the past two decades new and key randomized controlled trials have reported the efficacy, clinical and cost effectiveness of psychological and pharmacological treatments for adolescents with major depression.

METHODS

The literature was searched through pubmed, psychinfo, scopus and web of science for randomized controlled trials of current major depression together with meta-analyses and systematic reviews of trials between 2000 and 2017. Those specific to the adolescent years (11-18 years) were taken as the primary source for this narrative review. Additional selected studies in adults were used to illustrate methodological issues.

RESULTS

Manualized psychological therapies and the SSRI fluoxetine are more effective than active placebo in the treatment of major depressions. Mild to moderate illnesses attending community-based services are likely to benefit from psychological treatment alone. Moderately to severely ill patients attending clinic and hospital services are likely to benefit from monotherapies or combining psychological and pharmacological treatment. Antidepressants carry a small but significant side-effect risk including increased suicidality. Side effects from psychotherapies are somewhat lower but specific negative consequences remain less well characterized. There is some evidence that CBT-based approaches prevent onset of major depression episode in well adolescents at high-risk. Other psychological interventions have not been adequately studied. There has been only limited identification of treatment moderators and no clear understanding of therapeutic mechanisms.

CONCLUSIONS

There is now a range of clinically effective treatments for depressed adolescents. Future research needs to reveal moderators of and mechanisms for individual differences to treatment response, determine psychotherapies of value for milder depressions, enhance our understanding of safety and side-effects for all treatments, and consider how to reduce and treat treatment-resistant cases.

Major depressive disorder in children and adolescents

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders of childhood and adolescence, but because of symptom variation from the adult criteria, it is often unrecognized and untreated. Symptom severity predicts the initial mode of treatment ranging from psychotherapy to medications to combination treatment. Several studies have assessed the efficacy of treatment in children and adolescents, and others have evaluated the risk of developing adverse effects and/or new or worsening suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Optimal treatment often includes a combination of therapy and antidepressant medication. The most studied combination includes fluoxetine with cognitive behavioral therapy. Once symptom remission is obtained, treatment should be continued for 6 to 12 months before a slow taper is initiated. Although most children and adolescents recover from their first depressive episode, a large number will continue to present with MDD in adulthood. Untreated depression in children and adolescents may increase the risk of substance abuse; poor work, academic, and social functioning; and risk of suicidal behaviors.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy and short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy versus brief psychosocial intervention in adolescents with unipolar major depression (IMPACT): a multicentre, pragmatic, observer-blind, randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Although there are effective psychological treatments for unipolar major depression in adolescents, whether or not one or more of the available therapies maintain reduced depressive symptoms 1 year after the end of treatment is not known. This is a non-trivial issue because maintaining lowered depressive symptoms below a clinical threshold level reduces the risk for diagnostic relapse into the adult years.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether or not either of two specialist psychological treatments, cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) or short-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy (STPP), is more effective than a reference brief psychosocial intervention (BPI) in maintaining reduction of depression symptoms in the year after treatment.

DESIGN

Observer-blind, parallel-group, pragmatic superiority randomised controlled trial.

SETTING

A total of 15 outpatient NHS clinics in the UK from East Anglia, north-west England and North London.

PARTICIPANTS

Adolescents aged 11-17 years with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition major depression including those with suicidality, depressive psychosis and conduct disorder. Patients were randomised using stochastic minimisation controlling for age, sex and self-reported depression sum score; 470 patients were randomised and 465 were included in the analyses.

INTERVENTIONS

In total, 154 adolescents received CBT, 156 received STPP and 155 received BPI. The trial lasted 86 weeks and study treatments were delivered in the first 36 weeks, with 52 weeks of follow-up.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Mean sum score on self-reported depressive symptoms (primary outcome) at final study assessment (nominally 86 weeks, at least 52 weeks after end of treatment). Secondary measures were change in mean sum scores on self-reported anxiety symptoms and researcher-rated Health of the Nation scales for children and adolescents measuring psychosocial function. Following baseline assessment, there were a further five planned follow-up reassessments at nominal time points of 6, 12, 52 and 86 weeks post randomisation.

RESULTS

There were non-inferiority effects of CBT compared with STPP [treatment effect by final follow-up = -0.578, 95% confidence interval (CI) -2.948 to 4.104; p = 0.748]. There were no superiority effects for the two specialist treatments (CBT + STPP) compared with BPI (treatment effect by final follow-up = -1.898, 95% CI -4.922 to 1.126; p = 0.219). At final assessment there was no significant difference in the mean depressive symptom score between treatment groups. There was an average 49-52% reduction in depression symptoms by the end of the study. There were no differences in total costs or quality-of-life scores between treatment groups and prescribing a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) during treatment or follow-up did not differ between the therapy arms and, therefore, did not mediate the outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

The three psychological treatments differed markedly in theoretical and clinical approach and are associated with a similar degree of clinical improvement, cost-effectiveness and subsequent maintenance of lowered depressive symptoms. Both STPP and BPI offer an additional patient treatment choice, alongside CBT, for depressed adolescents attending specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. Further research should focus on psychological mechanisms that are associated with treatment response, the maintenance of positive effects, determinants of non-response and whether or not brief psychotherapies are of use in primary care and community settings.

LIMITATIONS

Neither reason for SSRI prescribing or monitoring of medication compliance was controlled for over the course of the study, and the economic results were limited by missing data.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN83033550.

FUNDING

This project was funded by the National Institute for Heath Research Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 21, No. 12. See the National Institute for Heath Research Journals Library website for further project information. Funding was also provided by the Department of Health. The funders had no role in the study design, patient recruitment, data collection, analysis or writing of the study, any aspect pertinent to the study or the decision to submit to The Lancet.

Self-care support for children and adolescents with long-term conditions: the REfOCUS evidence synthesis

Background

Self-care support (e.g. education, training, peer/professional support) is intended to enhance the self-care capacities of children and young people, while simultaneously reducing the financial burden facing health-care systems.

Objectives

To determine which models of self-care support for long-term conditions (LTCs) are associated with significant reductions in health utilisation and costs without compromising outcomes for children and young people.

Design

Systematic review with meta-analysis.

Population

Children and young people aged 0–18 years with a long-term physical or mental health condition (e.g. asthma, depression).

Intervention

Self-care support in health, social care, educational or community settings.

Comparator

Usual care.

Outcomes

Generic/health-related quality of life (QoL)/subjective health symptoms and health service utilisation/costs.

Design

Randomised/non-randomised trials, controlled before-and-after studies, and interrupted time series designs.

Data sources

MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, ISI Web of Science, NHS Economic Evaluation Database, The Cochrane Library, Health Technology Assessment database, Paediatric Economic Database Evaluation, IDEAS, reference scanning, targeted author searches and forward citation searching. All databases were searched from inception to March 2015.

Methods

We conducted meta-analyses, simultaneously plotting QoL and health utilisation effects. We conducted subgroup analyses for evidence quality, age, LTC and intervention (setting, target, delivery format, intensity).

Results

Ninety-seven studies reporting 114 interventions were included. Thirty-seven studies reported adequate allocation concealment. Fourteen were UK studies. The vast majority of included studies recruited children and young people with asthma (n = 66, 68%). Four per cent of studies evaluated ‘pure’ self-care support (delivered through health technology without additional contact), 23% evaluated facilitated self-care support (≤ 2 hours’/four sessions’ contact), 65% were intensively facilitated (≥ 2 hours’/four sessions’ contact) and 8% were case management (≥ 2 hours’ support with multidisciplinary input). Self-care support was associated with statistically significant, minimal benefits for QoL [effect size (ES) –0.17, 95% confidence interval (CI) –0.23 to –0.11], but lacked clear benefit for hospital admissions (ES –0.05, 95% CI –0.12 to 0.03). This finding endured across intervention intensities and LTCs. Statistically significant, minimal reductions in emergency use were observed (ES –0.11, 95% CI –0.17 to –0.04). The total cost analysis was limited by the small number of data. Subgroup analyses revealed statistically significant, minimal reductions in emergency use for children aged ≤ 13 years (ES –0.10, 95% CI –0.17 to –0.04), children and young people with asthma (ES –0.12, 95% CI –0.18 to –0.06) and children and young people receiving ≥ 2 hours per four sessions of support (ES –0.10, 95% CI –0.17 to –0.03). Preliminary evidence suggested that interventions that include the child or young person, and deliver some content individually, may optimise QoL effects. Face-to-face delivery may help to maximise emergency department effects. Caution is required in interpreting these findings.

Limitations

Identification of optimal models of self-care support is challenged by the size and nature of evidence available. The emphasis on meta-analysis meant that a minority of studies with incomplete but potentially relevant data were excluded.

Conclusions

Self-care support is associated with positive but minimal effects on children and young people’s QoL, and minimal, but potentially important, reductions in emergency use. On current evidence, we cannot reliably conclude that self-care support significantly reduces health-care costs.

Future work

Research is needed to explore the short- and longer-term effects of self-care support across a wider range of LTCs.

Study registration

This study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42014015452.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Cost-effectiveness of a preferred intensity exercise programme for young people with depression compared with treatment as usual: an economic evaluation alongside a clinical trial in the UK

OBJECTIVES

To assess the cost-effectiveness of preferred intensity exercise programme for young people with depression compared with a treatment as usual control group.

DESIGN

A 'within trial' cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis conducted alongside a randomised controlled trial. The perspective of the analysis was the UK National Health Service and social services.

SETTING

The intervention was provided in a community leisure centre setting.

PARTICIPANTS

86 young people aged 14-17 years attending Tier 2 and Tier 3 CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) outpatient services presenting with depression.

INTERVENTIONS

The intervention comprised 12 separate sessions of circuit training over a 6-week period. Sessions were supervised by a qualified exercise therapist. Participants also received treatment as usual. The comparator group received treatment as usual.

RESULTS

We found improvements in the Children's Depression Inventory-2 (CDI-2) and estimated cost-effectiveness at £61 per point improvement in CDI-2 for the exercise group compared with control. We found no evidence that the exercise intervention led to differences in quality-adjusted life years (QALY). QALYs were estimated using the EQ-5D-5L (5-level version of EuroQol-5 dimension).

CONCLUSIONS

There is evidence that exercise can be an effective intervention for adolescents with depression and the current study shows that preferred intensity exercise could also represent a cost-effective intervention in terms of the CDI-2.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT01474837.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Childhood Health Utilities

BACKGROUND

A common feature of most reviews or catalogues of health utilities has been their focus on adult health states or derivation of values from adult populations. More generally, utility measurement in or on behalf of children has been constrained by several methodological concerns. The objective of this study was to conduct the first comprehensive systematic review and meta-analysis of primary utility data for childhood conditions and descriptors, and to determine the effects of methodological factors on childhood utilities.

METHODS

The review followed PRISMA guidelines. PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, PsycINFO, EconLit, CINAHL and Cochrane Library were searched for primary studies reporting health utilities for childhood conditions or descriptors using direct or indirect valuation methods. The Paediatric Economic Database Evaluation (PEDE) Porject was also searched for cost-utility analyses with primary utility values. Mean or median utilities for each of the main samples were catalogued, and weighted averages of utilities for each health condition were estimated, by valuation method. Mixed-effects meta-regression using hierarchical linear modeling was conducted for the most common valuation methods to estimate the utility decrement for each health condition category relative to general childhood population health, as well as the independent effects of methodological factors.

RESULTS

The literature searches resulted in 272 eligible studies. These yielded 3,414 utilities when all sub-groups were considered, covering all ICD-10 chapters relevant to childhood health, 19 valuation methods, 12 respondent types, 8 modes of administration, and data from 36 countries. A total of 1,191 utility values were obtained when only main study samples were considered, and these were catalogued by health condition or descriptor, and methodological characteristics. 1,073 mean utilities for main samples were used for fixed-effects meta-analysis by health condition and valuation method. Mixed-effects meta-regressions estimated that 53 of 76 ICD-10 delineated health conditions, valued using the HUI3, were associated with statistically significant utility decrements relative to general population health, whereas 38 of 57 valued using a visual analog scale (VAS) were associated with statistically significant VAS decrements. For both methods, parental proxy assessment was associated with overestimation of values, whereas adolescents reported lower values than children under 12 y. VAS responses were more heavily influenced by mode of administration than the HUI3.

CONCLUSION

Utilities and their associated distributions, as well as the independent contributions of methodological factors, revealed by this systematic review and meta-analysis can inform future economic evaluations within the childhood context.

Economic evidence for the clinical management of major depressive disorder: a systematic review and quality appraisal of economic evaluations alongside randomised controlled trials

AIMS

The aim of this systematic review of economic evaluations alongside randomised controlled trials (RCTs) was to provide a comprehensive overview of the evidence concerning cost-effectiveness analyses of common treatment options for major depression.

METHODS

An existing database was used to identify studies reporting cost-effectiveness results from RCTs. This database has been developed by a systematic literature search in the bibliographic databases of PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase and Cochrane library from database inception to December 2014. We evaluated the quality of economic evaluations using a 10-item short version of the Drummond checklist. Results were synthesised narratively. The risk of bias of the included RCTs was assessed, based on the Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool.

RESULTS

Fourteen RCTs were included from the 5580 articles screened on titles and abstracts. The methodological quality of the health economic evaluations was relatively high and the majority of the included RCTs had low risk of bias in most of Cochrane items except blinding of participants and personnel. Cognitive behavioural therapy was examined in seven trials as part of a variety of treatment protocols and seems cost-effective compared with pharmacotherapy in the long-term. However cost-effectiveness results for the combination of psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy are conflicting and should be interpreted with caution due to limited comparability between the examined trials. For several treatments, only a single economic evaluation was reported as part of a clinical trial. This was the case for comparisons between different classes of antidepressants, for several types of psychotherapy (behavioural activation, occupational therapy, interpersonal psychotherapy, short-term psychotherapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, rational emotive behavioural therapy, solution focused therapy), and for transcranial magnetic stimulation v. electroconvulsive therapy. The limited evidence base for these interventions means generalisations, based on economic evaluation alongside clinical trials, cannot easily be made.

CONCLUSIONS

There is some economic evidence underpinning many of the common treatment options for major depression. Wide variability was observed in study outcomes, probably attributable to differences in population, interventions or follow-up periods. For many interventions, only a single economic evaluation alongside clinical trials was identified. Thus, significant economic evidence gaps remain in the area of major depressive disorder.

Implementation of transdiagnostic cognitive therapy in community behavioral health: The Beck Community Initiative

OBJECTIVE

Progress bringing evidence-based practice (EBP) to community behavioral health (CBH) has been slow. This study investigated feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity outcomes of a program to implement transdiagnostic cognitive therapy (CT) across diverse CBH settings, in response to a policy shift toward EBP.

METHOD

Clinicians (n = 348) from 30 CBH programs participated in workshops and 6 months of consultation. Clinician retention was examined to assess feasibility, and clinician feedback and attitudes were evaluated to assess implementation acceptability. Experts rated clinicians' work samples at baseline, mid-, and end-of-consultation with the Cognitive Therapy Rating Scale (CTRS) to assess fidelity.

RESULTS

Feasibility was demonstrated through high program retention (i.e., only 4.9% of clinicians withdrew). Turnover of clinicians who participated was low (13.5%) compared to typical CBH turnover rates, even during the high-demand training period. Clinicians reported high acceptability of EBP and CT, and self-reported comfort using CT improved significantly over time. Most clinicians (79.6%) reached established benchmarks of CT competency by the final assessment point. Mixed-effects hierarchical linear models indicated that CTRS scores increased significantly from baseline to the competency assessment (p < .001), on average by 18.65 points. Outcomes did not vary significantly between settings (i.e., outpatient vs. other).

CONCLUSIONS

Even clinicians motivated by policy-change rather than self-nomination may feasibly be trained to deliver a case-conceptualization driven EBP with high levels of competency and acceptability. (PsycINFO Database Record

Comparative Cost Analysis of Sequential, Adaptive, Behavioral, Pharmacological, and Combined Treatments for Childhood ADHD

We conducted a cost analysis of the behavioral, pharmacological, and combined interventions employed in a sequential, multiple assignment, randomized, and adaptive trial investigating the sequencing and enhancement of treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; Pelham et al., 201X; N = 146, 76% male, 80% Caucasian). The quantity of resources expended on each child's treatment was determined from records that listed the type, date, location, persons present, and duration of all services provided. The inputs considered were the amount of physician time, clinician time, paraprofessional time, teacher time, parent time, medication, and gasoline. Quantities of these inputs were converted into costs in 2013 USD using national wage estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the prices of 30-day supplies of prescription drugs from the national Express Scripts service, and mean fuel prices from the Energy Information Administration. Beginning treatment with a low-dose/intensity regimen of behavior modification (large-group parent training) was less costly for a school year of treatment ($961) than beginning treatment with a low dose of stimulant medication ($1,669), regardless of whether the initial treatment was intensified with a higher "dose" or if the other modality was added. Outcome data from the parent study (Pelham et al., 201X) found equivalent or superior outcomes for treatments beginning with low-intensity behavior modification compared to intervention beginning with medication. Combined with the present analyses, these findings suggest that initiating treatment with behavior modification rather than medication is the more cost-effective option for children with ADHD.

Psychological therapies versus antidepressant medication, alone and in combination for depression in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Depressive disorders are common in children and adolescents and, if left untreated, are likely to recur in adulthood. Depression is highly debilitating, affecting psychosocial, family and academic functioning.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of psychological therapies and antidepressant medication, alone and in combination, for the treatment of depressive disorder in children and adolescents. We have examined clinical outcomes including remission, clinician and self reported depression measures, and suicide-related outcomes.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR) to 11 June 2014. The register contains reports of relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1950 to date), EMBASE (1974 to date), and PsycINFO (1967 to date).

SELECTION CRITERIA

RCTs were eligible for inclusion if they compared i) any psychological therapy with any antidepressant medication, or ii) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a psychological therapy alone, or an antidepressant medication alone, or iii) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a placebo or'treatment as usual', or (iv) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a psychological therapy or antidepressant medication plus a placebo.We included studies if they involved participants aged between 6 and 18 years, diagnosed by a clinician as having Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) criteria.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed the quality of the studies. We applied a random-effects meta-analysis, using the odds ratio (OR) to describe dichotomous outcomes, mean difference (MD) to describe continuous outcomes when the same measures were used, and standard mean difference (SMD) when outcomes were measured on different scales.

MAIN RESULTS

We included eleven studies, involving 1307 participants in this review. We also identified one ongoing study, and two additional ongoing studies that may be eligible for inclusion. Studies recruited participants with different severities of disorder and with a variety of comorbid disorders, including anxiety and substance use disorder, therefore limiting the comparability of the results. Regarding the risk of bias in studies, just under half the studies had adequate allocation concealment (there was insufficient information to determine allocation concealment in the remainder), outcome assessors were blind to the participants' intervention in six studies, and in general, studies reported on incomplete data analysis methods, mainly using intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. For the majority of outcomes there were no statistically significant differences between the interventions compared. There was limited evidence (based on two studies involving 220 participants) that antidepressant medication was more effective than psychotherapy on measures of clinician defined remission immediately post-intervention (odds ratio (OR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27 to 0.98), with 67.8% of participants in the medication group and 53.7% in the psychotherapy group rated as being in remission. There was limited evidence (based on three studies involving 378 participants) that combination therapy was more effective than antidepressant medication alone in achieving higher remission from a depressive episode immediately post-intervention (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.47), with 65.9% of participants treated with combination therapy and 57.8% of participants treated with medication, rated as being in remission. There was no evidence to suggest that combination therapy was more effective than psychological therapy alone, based on clinician rated remission immediately post-intervention (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.38 to 8.68).Suicide-related Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) were reported in various ways across studies and could not be combined in meta-analyses. However, some trials measured suicidal ideation using standardised assessment tools suitable for meta-analysis. In one study involving 188 participants, rates of suicidal ideation were significantly higher in the antidepressant medication group (18.6%) compared with the psychological therapy group (5.4%) (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.72) and this effect appeared to remain at six to nine months (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.98), with 13.6% of participants in the medication group and 3.9% of participants in the psychological therapy group reporting suicidal ideation. It was unclear what the effect of combination therapy was compared with either antidepressant medication alone or psychological therapy alone on rates of suicidal ideation. The impact of any of the assigned treatment packages on drop out was also mostly unclear across the various comparisons in the review.Limited data and conflicting results based on other outcome measures make it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of any specific intervention based on these outcomes.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is very limited evidence upon which to base conclusions about the relative effectiveness of psychological interventions, antidepressant medication and a combination of these interventions. On the basis of the available evidence, the effectiveness of these interventions for treating depressive disorders in children and adolescents cannot be established. Further appropriately powered RCTs are required.

The cost-effectiveness of psychotherapy for the major psychiatric diagnoses

Psychotherapy is an effective and often highly cost-effective medical intervention for many serious psychiatric conditions. Psychotherapy can also lead to savings in other medical and societal costs. It is at times the firstline and most important treatment and at other times augments the efficacy of psychotropic medication. Many patients are in need of more prolonged and intensive psychotherapy, including those with personality disorders and those with chronic complex psychiatric conditions often with severe anxiety and depression. Many patients with serious and complex psychiatric illness have experienced severe early life trauma in an atmosphere in which family members or caretakers themselves have serious psychiatric disorders. Children and adolescents with learning disabilities and those with severe psychiatric disorders can also require more than brief treatment. Other diagnostic groups for whom psychotherapy is effective and cost-effective include patients with schizophrenia, anxiety disorders (including posttraumatic stress disorder), depression, and substance abuse. In addition, psychotherapy for the medically ill with concomitant psychiatric illness often lowers medical costs, improves recovery from medical illness, and at times even prolongs life compared to similar patients not given psychotherapy. While "cost-effective" treatments can yield savings in healthcare costs, disability claims, and other societal costs, "cost-effective" by no means translates to "cheap" but instead describes treatments that are clinically effective and provided at a cost that is considered reasonable given the benefit they provide, even if the treatments increase direct expenses. In the current insurance climate in which Mental Health Parity is the law, insurers nonetheless often use their own non-research and non-clinically based medical necessity guidelines to subvert it and limit access to appropriate psychotherapeutic treatments. Many patients, especially those who need extended and intensive psychotherapy, are at risk of receiving substandard care due to inadequate insurance reimbursement. These patients remain vulnerable to residual illness and the concomitant sequelae in lost productivity, dysfunctional interpersonal and family relationships, comorbidity including increased medical and surgical services, and increased mortality.

Annual research review: Child and adolescent mental health interventions: a review of progress in economic studies across different disorders

BACKGROUND

Resources for supporting children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders continue to be scarce. Economics research can identify current patterns of expenditure, and help inform allocation of treatment and support resources between competing needs or uses.

SCOPE AND METHODS

The aim was to identify the costs of supporting children and adolescents, the economic impacts of childhood psychiatric disorders in adulthood and any new evidence on the cost-effectiveness of interventions. An electronic search of databases (including PubMed, Medline and Psychinfo) identified peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2005 and 2012.

FINDINGS

Sixty-seven papers provided data on support and treatment costs now or in the future, or cost-effectiveness analyses of services. Half the articles came from the United States. Most articles focussed on autism spectrum disorder (ASD; 23 articles), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 15), conduct disorder (CD; n = 7), and anxiety or depression (n = 8).

CONCLUSION

Only 14 studies used a cost perspective wider than health care; most included education costs (n = 11), but only five included costs to the justice system. The number of studies estimating costs to the family has increased, particularly for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In the United Kingdom, support costs for children and adolescents with conduct disorder (CD) appear to be lower than for those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), although for the United States, the opposite may be true. Support costs for children and adolescents with ASD may be higher than both CD and ADHD. However, there were many differences between the samples and the methods employed making comparisons between studies difficult. Outcomes in adulthood include negative impacts on (mental) health, quality of life, public sector services, employment status and income. The evidence base is improving for child and adolescent psychiatric disorders, although only one full cost-effectiveness analysis was identified since the previous review published in 2012. However, we still do not know enough about the economic implications of support and treatment for specific disorders.

Developing a model of mental health self-care support for children and young people through an integrated evaluation of available types of provision involving systematic review, meta-analysis and case study

Background

The mental health of children and young people (CYP) is a major UK public health concern. Recent policy reviews have identified that service provision for CYP with mental health needs is not as effective, responsive, accessible or child-centred as it could be. Following on from a previous National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) study into self-care support for CYP with long-term physical health needs, this study explored self-care support’s potential in CYP’s mental health.

Objectives

To identify and evaluate the types of mental health self-care support used by, and available to, CYP and their parents, and to establish how such support interfaces with statutory and non-statutory service provision.

Design

Two inter-related systematic literature reviews (an effectiveness review with meta-analysis and a perceptions review), together with a service mapping exercise and case study.

Setting

Global (systematic reviews); England and Wales (mapping exercise and case study).

Participants (case study)

Fifty-two individuals (17 CYP, 16 family members and 19 staff) were interviewed across six sites.

Main outcome measures (meta-analysis)

A measure of CYP’s mental health symptomatology.

Data sources (literature reviews)

MEDLINE, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, All Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) Reviews, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA) and Education Resources Information Center (ERIC).

Review methods

Titles and abstracts of papers were screened for relevance then grouped into studies. Two independent reviewers extracted data from studies meeting the inclusion criteria. A descriptive analysis and meta-analysis were conducted for the effectiveness review; descriptive analyses were conducted for the perceptions review. These analyses were integrated to elicit a mixed-methods review.

Results

Sixty-five of 71 included studies were meta-analysable. These 65 studies elicited 71 comparisons which, when meta-analysed, suggested that self-care support interventions were effective at 6-month [standardised mean difference (SMD) = −0.20; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.28 to −0.11] and 12-month (SMD = −0.12; 95% CI −0.17 to −0.06) follow-ups. However, judged against Cochrane criteria, the studies were mostly low quality. Key elements of self-care support identified in the perceptions review were the acquisition of knowledge and skills, peer support and the relationship with the self-care support agent; CYP also had different perceptions from adults about what is important in self-care support. The mapping exercise identified 27 providers of 33 self-care support services. According to the case study data, effective self-care support services are predicated on flexibility; straightforward access; non-judgemental, welcoming organisations and staff; the provision of time and attention; opportunities to learn and practise skills relevant to self-care; and systems of peer support.

Conclusions

Mental health self-care support interventions for CYP are modestly effective in the short to medium term. Self-care support can be conceptualised as a process which has overlap with ‘recovery’. CYP and their families want choice and flexibility in the provision of such interventions and a continued relationship with services after the nominal therapy period. Those delivering self-care support need to have specific child-centred attributes.

Future work

Future work should focus on under-represented conditions (e.g. psychosis, eating disorders, self-harm); the role of technology, leadership and readiness in self-care support; satisfaction in self-care support; the conceptualisation of self-care support in CYP’s mental health; and efficacy and cost-effectiveness.

Study registration

PROSPERO number (for the effectiveness review) CRD42012001981.

Funding

The NIHR Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Are antidepressants effective in quality of life improvement among children and adolescents? A systematic review

There is some evidence indicating that psychotropic medications might lead to health-related quality of life (QOL) improvements among children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders. The aim of this systematic review is to assess evidence regarding whether antidepressant treatment improves QOL among children and adolescents with depressive or anxiety disorders. A comprehensive search resulted in 5 clinical trials to be included in this review: 4 trials with major depressive disorder (MDD) and 1 trial with social anxiety disorder (SAD). In one MDD trial, fluoxetine combined with cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) significantly improved QOL compared to fluoxetine or CBT alone (effect sizes were 0.53 and 0.69, respectively). In 2 combined trials, sertraline alone significantly improved QOL among adolescents with MDD (effect size was 0.29), but not among children with MDD. Essentially, it was observed that antidepressants in these trials had minor positive effects on QOL improvement, which were lower than their potential to improve depressive symptoms. Although fluoxetine with CBT or sertraline monotherapy were shown to have some potential to improve QOL, this systematic review found inconclusive evidence that antidepressant treatments improve QOL among children and adolescents with depressive or anxiety disorders. More research is required, considering that QOL is currently under-evaluated in clinical trials with antidepressants among children and adolescents and available trials have limited methodological quality when reporting QOL data.

Mental health service use among adolescents following participation in a randomized clinical trial for depression

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common disorder among adolescents. The Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS) was a randomized controlled trial to examine the efficacy of fluoxetine and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), separately and together, compared with placebo, in adolescents 12 to 17 years of age. The Survey of Outcomes Following Treatment for Adolescent Depression (SOFTAD) was designed as a naturalistic follow-up of participants in TADS. The aims of the current analyses are to describe mental health service use during the SOFTAD period. There were 196 adolescents recruited from 12 TADS sites. The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age-Children-Present and Lifetime Version was used for clinical diagnoses. Participants completed a psychiatric treatment log and the Child and Adolescent Services Assessment to assess service use. 58% received psychotherapy or nonstimulant psychotropic medication during SOFTAD. Youth with recurrent MDD had higher rates of treatment compared to youth without recurrent MDD (71% vs. 45%). However, nearly one third of the adolescents in the study did not receive treatment for a recurrent episode of depression. Service use differed by gender for those with recurrent MDD, with female participants (79%) receiving treatment at higher rates than male participants (55%), although there was no significant difference in depression severity between genders. Younger participants with recurrent MDD had higher odds of receiving psychotherapy. Use of psychotherapy and psychotropics following recurrence of depression appears to be influenced by age and gender. Even when youth respond well to treatment, a sizeable percentage are likely to experience a subsequent episode that may go untreated.

The estimation of utility weights in cost-utility analysis for mental disorders: a systematic review

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review approaches and instruments used to derive utility weights in cost-utility analyses (CUAs) within the field of mental disorders and to identify factors that may have influenced the choice of the approach.

METHODS

We searched the databases DARE (Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects), NHS EED (National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database), HTA (Health Technology Assessment), and PubMed for CUAs. Studies were included if they were full economic evaluations and reported quality-adjusted life-years as the health outcome. Study characteristics and instruments used to estimate utility weights were described and a logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with the choice of either the direct (e.g. standard gamble) or the preference-based measure (PBM) approach (e.g. EQ-5D).

RESULTS

We identified 227 CUAs with a maximum in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Most CUAs were conducted in depression, dementia, or psychosis, and came from the US or the UK, with the EQ-5D being the most frequently used instrument. The application of the direct approach was significantly associated with depression, psychosis, and model-based studies. The PBM approach was more likely to be used in recent studies, dementia, Europe, and empirical studies. Utility weights used in model-based studies were derived from only a small number of studies.

LIMITATIONS

We only searched four databases and did not evaluate the quality of the included studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Direct instruments and PBMs are used to elicit utility weights in CUAs with different frequencies regarding study type, mental disorder, and country.

A model of placebo response in antidepressant clinical trials

Placebo response in clinical trials of antidepressant medications is substantial and has been increasing. High placebo response rates hamper efforts to detect signals of efficacy for new antidepressant medications, contributing to trial failures and delaying the delivery of new treatments to market. Media reports seize upon increasing placebo response and modest advantages for active drugs as reasons to question the value of antidepressant medication, which may further stigmatize treatments for depression and dissuade patients from accessing mental health care. Conversely, enhancing the factors responsible for placebo response may represent a strategy for improving available treatments for major depressive disorder. A conceptual framework describing the causes of placebo response is needed in order to develop strategies for minimizing placebo response in clinical trials, maximizing placebo response in clinical practice, and talking with depressed patients about the risks and benefits of antidepressant medications. In this review, the authors examine contributors to placebo response in antidepressant clinical trials and propose an explanatory model. Research aimed at reducing placebo response should focus on limiting patient expectancy and the intensity of therapeutic contact in antidepressant clinical trials, while the optimal strategy in clinical practice may be to combine active medication with a presentation and level of therapeutic contact designed to enhance treatment response.

Educating health care trainees and professionals about suicide prevention in depressed adolescents

Adolescent depression is a highly prevalent disorder with significant morbidity and suicide mortality. It is simultaneously highly responsive to treatment. Adolescents wish to discuss depression with their providers, and providers routinely receive opportunities to do so. These characteristics of prevalence, morbidity, mortality, responsiveness, and accessibility make adolescent depression an excellent target of care. However, most health care trainees and professionals report low confidence in caring for adolescent depression. As a caregiver community, we fare poorly in routine matters of assessment and management of adolescent depression. All health care professionals are trained within a medical model. In this light, the conceptualization of adolescent depression and suicidality within the medical model may increase provider confidence and performance. Epidemiology and neurobiology are presented with emphasis in this review. Legal concerns also affect health care professionals. For example, providers may deviate from evidence-based medicine owing to anxieties that the identification and treatment of depression may induce suicide and consequent legal culpability. A review of the historical context and relevant outcome trials concerning the increased risk of suicidality in depressed adolescents treated with selective-serotonin reuptake inhibitors may increase provider comfort. Furthermore, increased didactic and experiential training improve provider performance. In this work, proven models were discussed, and the testable hypothesis that education incorporating the views of this article can produce the best care for depressed adolescents.

Psychological therapies versus antidepressant medication, alone and in combination for depression in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Depressive disorders are common in children and adolescents and, if left untreated, are likely to recur in adulthood. Depression is highly debilitating, affecting psychosocial, family and academic functioning.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effectiveness of psychological therapies and antidepressant medication, alone and in combination, for the treatment of depressive disorder in children and adolescents. We have examined clinical outcomes including remission, clinician and self reported depression measures, and suicide-related outcomes.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR) to 11 November 2011. This register contains reports of relevant randomised controlled trials (RCTs) from the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE (1950 to date), EMBASE (1974 to date), and PsycINFO (1967 to date).

SELECTION CRITERIA

RCTs were eligible for inclusion if they compared i) any psychological therapy with any antidepressant medication, or ii) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a psychological therapy alone, or an antidepressant medication alone, or iii) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a placebo or 'treatment as usual', or (iv) a combination of psychological therapy and antidepressant medication with a psychological therapy or antidepressant medication plus a placebo.We included studies if they involved participants aged between 6 and 18 years, diagnosed by a clinician as having Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or International Classification of Diseases (ICD) criteria.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently selected studies, extracted data and assessed the quality of the studies. We applied a random-effects meta-analysis, using the odds ratio (OR) to describe dichotomous outcomes, mean difference (MD) to describe continuous outcomes when the same measures were used, and standard mean difference (SMD) when outcomes were measured on different scales.

MAIN RESULTS

We included ten studies, involving 1235 participants in this review. Studies recruited participants with different severities of disorder and with a variety of comorbid disorders, including anxiety and substance use disorder, therefore limiting the comparability of the results. Regarding the risk of bias in studies, half the studies had adequate allocation concealment (there was insufficient information to determine allocation concealment in the remainder), outcome assessors were blind to the participants' intervention in six studies, and in general, studies reported on incomplete data analysis methods, mainly using intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses. For the majority of outcomes there were no statistically significant differences between the interventions compared. There was limited evidence (based on two studies involving 220 participants) that antidepressant medication was more effective than psychotherapy on measures of clinician defined remission immediately post-intervention (odds ratio (OR) 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.27 to 0.98), with 67.8% of participants in the medication group and 53.7% in the psychotherapy group rated as being in remission. There was limited evidence (based on three studies involving 378 participants) that combination therapy was more effective than antidepressant medication alone in achieving higher remission from a depressive episode immediately post-intervention (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.47), with 65.9% of participants treated with combination therapy and 57.8% of participants treated with medication, rated as being in remission. There was no evidence to suggest that combination therapy was more effective than psychological therapy alone, based on clinician rated remission immediately post-intervention (OR 1.82, 95% CI 0.38 to 8.68).Suicide-related Serious Adverse Events (SAEs) were reported in various ways across studies and could not be combined in meta-analyses. However suicidal ideation specifically was generally measured and reported using standardised assessment tools suitable for meta-analysis. In one study involving 188 participants, rates of suicidal ideation were significantly higher in the antidepressant medication group (18.6%) compared with the psychological therapy group (5.4%) (OR 0.26, 95% CI 0.09 to 0.72) and this effect appeared to remain at six to nine months (OR 1.27, 95% CI 0.68 to 2.36), with 13.6% of participants in the medication group and 3.9% of participants in the psychological therapy group reporting suicidal ideation. It was unclear what the effect of combination therapy was compared with either antidepressant medication alone or psychological therapy alone on rates of suicidal ideation. The impact of any of the assigned treatment packages on drop out was also mostly unclear across the various comparisons in the review.Limited data and conflicting results based on other outcome measures make it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the effectiveness of any specific intervention based on these outcomes.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

There is very limited evidence upon which to base conclusions about the relative effectiveness of psychological interventions, antidepressant medication and a combination of these interventions. On the basis of the available evidence, the effectiveness of these interventions for treating depressive disorders in children and adolescents cannot be established. Further appropriately powered RCTs are required.

Interventions for preventing relapse and recurrence of a depressive disorder in children and adolescents

BACKGROUND

Depressive disorders often begin during childhood or adolescence. There is a growing body of evidence supporting effective treatments during the acute phase of a depressive disorder. However, little is known about treatments for preventing relapse or recurrence of depression once an individual has achieved remission or recovery from their symptoms.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the efficacy of early interventions, including psychological and pharmacological interventions, to prevent relapse or recurrence of depressive disorders in children and adolescents.

SEARCH METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Review Group's Specialised Register (CCDANCTR) (to 1 June 2011). The CCDANCTR contains reports of relevant randomised controlled trials from The Cochrane Library (all years), EMBASE (1974 to date), MEDLINE (1950 to date) and PsycINFO (1967 to date). In addition we handsearched the references of all included studies and review articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Randomised controlled trials using a psychological or pharmacological intervention, with the aim of preventing relapse or recurrence from an episode of major depressive disorder (MDD) or dysthymic disorder (DD) in children and adolescents were included. Participants were required to have been diagnosed with MDD or DD according to DSM or ICD criteria, using a standardised and validated assessment tool.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

Two review authors independently assessed all trials for inclusion in the review, extracted trial and outcome data, and assessed trial quality. Results for dichotomous outcomes are expressed as odds ratio and continuous measures as mean difference or standardised mean difference. We combined results using random-effects meta-analyses, with 95% confidence intervals. We contacted lead authors of included trials and requested additional data where possible.

MAIN RESULTS

Nine trials with 882 participants were included in the review. In five trials the outcome assessors were blind to the participants' intervention condition and in the remainder of trials it was unclear. In the majority of trials, participants were either not blind to their intervention condition, or it was unclear whether they were or not. Allocation concealment was also unclear in the majority of trials. Although all trials treated participants in an outpatient setting, the designs implemented in trials was diverse, which limits the generalisability of the results. Three trials indicated participants treated with antidepressant medication had lower relapse-recurrence rates (40.9%) compared to those treated with placebo (66.6%) during a relapse prevention phase (odds ratio (OR) 0.34; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18 to 0.64, P = 0.02). One trial that compared a combination of psychological therapy and medication to medication alone favoured a combination approach over medication alone, however this result did not reach statistical significance (OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.06 to 1.15). The majority of trials that involved antidepressant medication reported adverse events including suicide-related behaviours. However, there were not enough data to show which treatment approach results in the most favourable adverse event profile.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS

Currently, there is little evidence to conclude which type of treatment approach is most effective in preventing relapse or recurrence of depressive episodes in children and adolescents. Limited trials found that antidepressant medication reduces the chance of relapse-recurrence in the future, however, there is considerable diversity in the design of trials, making it difficult to compare outcomes across studies. Some of the research involving psychological therapies is encouraging, however at present more trials with larger sample sizes need to be conducted in order to explore this treatment approach further.

Direct-to-consumer marketing of evidence-based psychological interventions: introduction

The dissemination and implementation of evidence-based psychological interventions (EBPIs) to service provision settings has been a major challenge. Most efforts to disseminate and implement EBPIs have focused on clinicians and clinical systems as the consumers of these treatments and thus have targeted efforts to these groups. An alternative, complementary approach to achieve more widespread utilization of EBPIs is to disseminate directly to patients themselves. The aim of this special section is to explore several direct-to-consumer (i.e., patient) dissemination and education efforts currently underway. This manuscript highlights the rationale for direct-to-patient dissemination strategies as well as the application of marketing science to dissemination efforts. Achieving greater access to EBPIs will require the use of multiple approaches to overcome the many and varied barriers to successful dissemination and implementation.

The interplay of outpatient services and psychiatric hospitalization among Medicaid-enrolled children with autism spectrum disorders

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether increased provision of community-based services is associated with decreased psychiatric hospitalizations among children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs).

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study using discrete-time logistic regression to examine the association of service use in the preceding 60 days with the risk of hospitalization.

SETTING

The Medicaid-reimbursed health care system in the continental United States.

PARTICIPANTS

Medicaid-enrolled children with an ASD diagnosis in 2004 (N = 28 428).

MAIN EXPOSURES

Use of respite care and therapeutic services, based on procedure codes.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Hospitalizations associated with a diagnosis of ASD (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, codes 299.0, 299.8, and 299.9).

RESULTS

Each $1000 increase in spending on respite care during the preceding 60 days resulted in an 8% decrease in the odds of hospitalization in adjusted analysis. Use of therapeutic services was not associated with reduced risk of hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS

Respite care is not universally available through Medicaid. It may represent a critical type of service for supporting families in addressing challenging child behaviors. States should increase the availability of respite care for Medicaid-enrolled children with ASDs. The lack of association between therapeutic services and hospitalization raises concerns regarding the effectiveness of these services.

Onset of alcohol or substance use disorders following treatment for adolescent depression

OBJECTIVE

This study tested whether positive response to short-term treatment for adolescent major depressive disorder (MDD) would have the secondary benefit of preventing subsequent alcohol use disorders (AUD) or substance use disorders (SUD).

METHOD

For 5 years, we followed 192 adolescents (56.2% female; 20.8% minority) who had participated in the Treatment for Adolescents with Depression Study (TADS; TADS Team, 2004) and who had no prior diagnoses of AUD or SUD. TADS initial treatments were cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), fluoxetine alone (FLX), the combination of CBT and FLX (COMB), or clinical management with pill placebo (PBO). We used both the original TADS treatment response rating and a more restrictive symptom count rating. During follow-up, diagnostic interviews were completed at 6- or 12-month intervals to assess onset of AUD or SUD as well as MDD recovery and recurrence.

RESULTS

Achieving a positive response to MDD treatment was unrelated to subsequent AUD but predicted a lower rate of subsequent SUD, regardless of the measure of positive response (11.65% vs. 24.72%, or 10.0% vs. 24.5%, respectively). Type of initial MDD treatment was not related to either outcome. Prior to depression treatment, greater involvement with alcohol or drugs predicted later AUD or SUD, as did older age (for AUD) and more comorbid disorders (for SUD). Among those with recurrent MDD and AUD, AUD preceded MDD recurrence in 24 of 25 cases.

CONCLUSION

Effective short-term adolescent depression treatment significantly reduces the rate of subsequent SUD but not AUD. Alcohol or drug use should be assessed prior to adolescent MDD treatment and monitored even after MDD recovery.

Strategies and challenges in the management of adolescent depression

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Adolescent depression is a chronic, pervasive, and disabling problem that is often under-recognized and under-treated. The objective of this article is to review recent (over the past 12-18 months) literature on the management of depression in adolescents, with a particular focus on pharmacological and psychological treatments as well as community and internet-based prevention and treatment programmes.

RECENT FINDINGS

The tendency for depression in young people to be associated with a number of other disorders and behaviours, including anxiety, suicide, conduct disorder and substance abuse, compounds the complexity of management and can contribute to a negative long-term impact on adult mental health. Results of recent randomized controlled trials have reinforced our understanding that the management of moderate-to-severe depression in adolescents should be assertive and prompt, typically including a combination of psychological and pharmacological interventions.

SUMMARY

While the development of novel treatments is evolving, there is an urgent need to focus on defining the optimal use of available therapies and tailoring these to individual presentations, as well as upon improving identification of adolescent depressive disorders in the community.

Economic evaluation research in the context of Child Welfare policy: a structured literature review and recommendations

OBJECTIVES

With over 1 million children served by the US Child Welfare system at a cost of $20 billion annually, this study examines the economic evaluation literature on interventions to improve outcomes for children at risk for and currently involved with the system, identifies areas where additional research is needed, and discusses the use of decision-analytic modeling to advance Child Welfare policy and practice.

METHODS

The review included 19 repositories of peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed "gray" literatures, including items in English published before November, 2009. Original research articles were included if they evaluated interventions based on costs and outcomes. Review articles were included to assess the relevance of these techniques over time and to highlight the increasing discussion of methods needed to undertake such research. Items were categorized by their focus on: interventions for the US Child Welfare system; primary prevention of entry into the system; and use of models to make long-term projections of costs and outcomes.

RESULTS

Searches identified 2,640 articles, with 49 ultimately included (19 reviews and 30 original research articles). Between 1988 and 2009, reviews consistently advocated economic evaluation and increasingly provided methodological guidance. 21 of the original research articles focused on Child Welfare, while 9 focused on child mental health. Of the 21 Child Welfare articles, 81% (17) focused on the US system. 47% (8/17) focused exclusively on primary prevention, though 83% of the US system, peer-reviewed articles focused exclusively on prevention (5/6). 9 of the 17 articles included empirical follow-up (mean sample size: 264 individuals; mean follow-up: 3.8 years). 10 of the 17 articles used modeling to project longer-term outcomes, but 80% of the articles using modeling were not peer-reviewed. Although 60% of modeling studies included interventions for children in the system, all peer-reviewed modeling articles focused on prevention.

CONCLUSIONS

Methodological guidance for economic evaluations in Child Welfare is increasingly available. Such analyses are feasible given the availability of nationally representative data on children involved with Child Welfare and evidence-based interventions.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Policy analyses considering the long-term costs and effects of interventions to improve Child Welfare outcomes are scarce, feasible, and urgently needed.

The responsiveness of quality of life utilities to change in depression: a comparison of instruments (SF-6D, EQ-5D, and DFD)

BACKGROUND

Utilities are often a main outcome parameter in economic evaluations. Because depression has a large influence on quality of life, it is expected that utilities are responsive to changes in depression.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the change in utility derived from different instruments in depression, including the Short Form 6D (SF-6D), the Euroqol based on the UK (EQ-5D(UK)), the Euroqol based on the Dutch tariff (EQ-5D(NL)), and utilities derived from Beck Depression Inventory Second Edition (BDI-II) using the Depression-Free-Day method.

METHOD

This study evaluated the responsiveness, the minimally important difference, and the agreement in utility change derived from the different instruments.

RESULTS

The SF-6D, EQ-5D(UK), and EQ-5D(NL) were responsive. The minimally important difference values are in line with previous studies, about 0.3. The Depression-Free-Day method nearly always resulted in positive utility changes, even for subgroups that had no change or deterioration in health status or depression. There was poor agreement between utility changes of the SF-6D, EQ-5D (either EQ-5D(UK) or EQ-5D(NL)), and DFDu.

CONCLUSIONS

The SF-6D, EQ-5D(UK), and EQ-5D(NL) seem responsive and thus adequate for estimating utility in depression treatment. We do not recommend the use of the Depression-Fee-Day method. The low agreement between utility changes indicates that outcomes of the different instruments are incomparable.

Incremental cost-effectiveness of combined therapy vs medication only for youth with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor-resistant depression: treatment of SSRI-resistant depression in adolescents trial findings

CONTEXT

Many youth with depression do not respond to initial treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and this is associated with higher costs. More effective treatment for these youth may be cost-effective.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the incremental cost-effectiveness over 24 weeks of combined cognitive behavior therapy plus switch to a different antidepressant medication vs medication switch only in adolescents who continued to have depression despite adequate initial treatment with an SSRI.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

Six US academic and community clinics.

PATIENTS

Three hundred thirty-four patients aged 12 to 18 years with SSRI-resistant depression.

INTERVENTION

Participants were randomly assigned to (1) switch to a different medication only or (2) switch to a different medication plus cognitive behavior therapy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Clinical outcomes were depression-free days (DFDs), depression-improvement days (DIDs), and quality-adjusted life-years based on DFDs (DFD-QALYs). Costs of intervention, nonprotocol services, and families were included.

RESULTS

Combined treatment achieved 8.3 additional DFDs (P = .03), 0.020 more DFD-QALYs (P = .03), and 11.0 more DIDs (P = .04). Combined therapy cost $1633 more (P = .01). Cost per DFD was $188 (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER] = $188; 95% confidence interval [CI], -$22 to $1613), $142 per DID (ICER = $142; 95% CI, -$14 to $2529), and $78,948 per DFD-QALY (ICER = $78,948; 95% CI, -$9261 to $677,448). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curve analyses suggest a 61% probability that combined treatment is more cost-effective at a willingness to pay $100,000 per QALY. Combined treatment had a higher net benefit for subgroups of youth without a history of abuse, with lower levels of hopelessness, and with comorbid conditions.

CONCLUSIONS

For youth with SSRI-resistant depression, combined treatment decreases the number of days with depression and is more costly. Depending on a decision maker's willingness to pay, combined therapy may be cost-effective, particularly for some subgroups.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00018902.

Prevention and treatment of child and adolescent depression: challenges and opportunities

OBJECTIVE

To examine the current theoretical rationale and empirical evidence for preventing and treating major depressive disorder in childhood and adolescence.

METHODS

Selective review of recent controlled investigations on the efficacy and safety of preventive and treatment interventions.

RESULTS

Even more than in adults, pediatric clinical trials in depression are dominated by symptomatic improvement with non-specific clinical contact (on average, 50% 'placebo response'). The additional benefit of specific psychotherapeutic or pharmacological treatment is on average modest. Antidepressant medication is effective in speeding up improvement, but more than a third of patients do not reach full remission even after prolonged treatment. The advantage of routinely combining medication with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is unclear. Depressed suicidal adolescents can benefit from CBT and medications. CBT can protect high-risk youths from developing a depressive episode.

CONCLUSIONS

Effective interventions to prevent and treat depression in youth exist, but their therapeutic benefit appears to be, on average, small, possibly due to the clinical heterogeneity subsumed under the current diagnostic construct of depressive disorder. More specifically, targeted interventions tailored to individual clinical and biological characteristics may result in greater effectiveness and overall efficiency.

Combined treatment with cognitive-behavioural therapy in adolescent depression: meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

The treatment of adolescent depression is controversial and studies of combined treatment (antidepressants and cognitive-behavioural therapy, CBT) have produced conflicting findings.

AIMS

To address the question of whether CBT confers additional benefit to antidepressant treatment in adolescents with unipolar depression for depressive symptoms, suicidality, impairment and global improvement.

METHOD

Meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of newer-generation antidepressants and CBT in adolescent depression.

RESULTS

There was no evidence of a statistically significant benefit of combined treatment over antidepressants for depressive symptoms, suicidality and global improvement after acute treatment or at follow-up. There was a statistically significant advantage of combined treatment for impairment in the short-term (at 12 weeks) only. There was some evidence of heterogeneity between studies.

CONCLUSIONS

Adding CBT to antidepressants confers limited advantage for the treatment of an episode of depression in adolescents. The variation in sampling and methodology between studies, as well as the small number of trials, limits the generalisability of the findings and any conclusions that can be drawn. Future studies should examine predictors of response to treatment as well as clinical components that may affect outcome.

Achieving adolescent adherence to treatment of major depression

When treatments are ordered for adolescent major depression, or for other adolescent medical illnesses, adherence and clinical outcomes are likely to be unsatisfactory, unless 4 basic principles of the medical treatment of adolescent illness are implemented. These comprise providing effective patient and parent/caregiver education, establishing effective patient and caregiver therapeutic alliances, providing effective treatment, and managing other factors associated with treatment adherence as indicated. The goals of treatment are to achieve the earliest possible response and remission. Failure to treat adolescent major depression successfully has potentially serious consequences, including worsened adherence, long-term morbidity, and suicide attempt. Accordingly, prescribed treatment must be aggressively managed. Doses of an antidepressant medication should be increased as rapidly as can be tolerated, preferably every 1-2 weeks, until full remission is achieved or such dosing is limited by the emergence of unacceptable adverse effects. A full range of medication treatment options must be employed if necessary. Treatment adherence, occurrence of problematic adverse effects, clinical progress, and safety must be systematically monitored. Adolescents with major depression must be assessed for risk of harm to self or others. When this risk appears significant, likelihood of successful outcomes will be enhanced by use of treatment plans that comprehensively address factors associated with treatment nonadherence. Abbreviated and comprehensive plans for the treatment of potentially fatal adolescent illnesses are outlined in this review.

Pharmacotherapy of major depressive disorder in adolescents

IMPORTANCE OF THE FIELD

At any one time, major depressive disorder (MDD) affects 4 - 6% of adolescents. When untreated, MDD leads to a high immediate and subsequent suicide risk, long-term chronicity and a poor psychosocial outcome. Whereas psychotherapy can be effective in mild depression, it seems to be less effective in moderate and severe depression. However, although the use of antidepressants increased markedly during the 1990s, in recent years it has decreased as a result of concerns regarding the emergence of suicidality during antidepressant treatment.

AREAS COVERED IN THIS REVIEW

Are antidepressants truly effective? What is the relationship between different treatments for depression - psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy - alone or in combination? Can antidepressants increase the risk of suicide in some adolescents? Can antidepressants reduce suicide risk in suicidal adolescents?

WHAT THE READER WILL GAIN

There is evidence that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) can improve adolescent depression better than placebo, although the magnitude of the antidepressant effect is 'small to moderate', because of a high placebo response. The SSRI with the best rate of response compared to placebo is fluoxetine. The increased risk of suicidality in adolescents, compared to adults, is weak but consistent across most studies. However, epidemiological studies do not support a relationship between use of antidepressants and suicide rate.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE

A cautious and well-monitored use of antidepressant medications is a first-line treatment option in adolescents with moderate to severe depression. Low rates of remission with current treatment strategies indicate that further research in both psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy is warranted.

From TADS and SOFTADS to TORDIA and beyond: what's new in the treatment of adolescent depression?

Major depressive disorder in adolescents is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Major advances have been made in recent years in the treatment of adolescent depression, with promising outcomes. However, limitations of currently available treatments have prompted attempts to better understand pediatric depression from a broader perspective and to develop more effective treatment strategies in the future.