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Scazufca M, Nakamura CA, Seward N, Didone TVN, Moretti FA, Oliveira da Costa M, Queiroz de Souza CH, Macias de Oliveira G, Souza Dos Santos M, Pereira LA, Mendes de Sá Martins M, van de Ven P, Hollingworth W, Peters TJ, Araya R. Self-help mobile messaging intervention for depression among older adults in resource-limited settings: a randomized controlled trial. Nat Med 2024; 30:1127-1133. [PMID: 38486075 PMCID: PMC11031393 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-02864-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 04/21/2024]
Abstract
Scalable solutions to treat depression in older adults in low-resourced settings are urgently needed. The PRODIGITAL-D pragmatic, single-blind, two-arm, individually randomized controlled trial assessed the effectiveness of a mobile messaging psychosocial intervention in improving depressive symptomatology among older adults in socioeconomically deprived areas of Guarulhos, Brazil. Older adults (aged 60+ years) registered with 24 primary care clinics and identified with depressive symptomatology (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) scores ≥ 10) received the 6-week Viva Vida intervention based on psychoeducation and behavioral activation (n = 298) or a single message (n = 305). No health professional support was offered. The primary outcome was improvement from depressive symptomatology (PHQ-9 < 10) at 3 months. Of the 603 participants enrolled (mean age = 65.1 years; 451 (74.8%) women), 527 (87.4%) completed the follow-up assessment. In the intervention arm, 109 of 257 (42.4%) participants had an improved depressive symptomatology, compared with 87 of 270 (32.2%) participants in the control arm (adjusted odds ratio = 1.57; 95% confidence interval = 1.07-2.29; P = 0.019). No severe adverse events related to trial participation were observed. These results demonstrate the usefulness of a digital messaging psychosocial intervention in the short-term improvement from depressive symptomatology that can potentially be integrated into primary care programs for treating older adults with depression. Brazilian Registry of Clinical Trials registration: ReBEC ( RBR-4c94dtn ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcia Scazufca
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
| | - Carina Akemi Nakamura
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nadine Seward
- Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Thiago Vinicius Nadaleto Didone
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Departamento de Saúde Coletiva, Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil
| | - Felipe Azevedo Moretti
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Neuroscience Research Group, Institute D'Or for Research and Teaching, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Marcelo Oliveira da Costa
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | | | - Monica Souza Dos Santos
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina FMUSP, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luara Aragoni Pereira
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas HCFMUSP, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Pepijn van de Ven
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - William Hollingworth
- Health Economics Bristol, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Tim J Peters
- Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, and Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ricardo Araya
- Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
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Scazufca M, Nakamura CA, Seward N, Moreno-Agostino D, van de Ven P, Hollingworth W, Peters TJ, Araya R. A task-shared, collaborative care psychosocial intervention for improving depressive symptomatology among older adults in a socioeconomically deprived area of Brazil (PROACTIVE): a pragmatic, two-arm, parallel-group, cluster-randomised controlled trial. THE LANCET. HEALTHY LONGEVITY 2022; 3:e690-e702. [PMID: 36202129 PMCID: PMC9529612 DOI: 10.1016/s2666-7568(22)00194-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Revised: 08/05/2022] [Accepted: 08/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND There is an urgent need to reduce the burden of depression among older adults in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a task-shared, collaborative care psychosocial intervention for improving recovery from depression in older adults in Brazil. METHODS PROACTIVE was a pragmatic, two-arm, parallel-group, cluster-randomised controlled trial conducted in Guarulhos, Brazil. Primary care clinics (clusters) were stratified by educational level and randomly allocated (1:1) to either enhanced usual care alone (control group) or to enhanced usual care plus the psychosocial intervention (intervention group), which involved a 17-week psychosocial programme based on psychoeducation and behavioural activation approaches. Individuals approached for the initial screening assessment were selected randomly from a list of individuals provided by the Health Secretariat of Guarulhos. Face-to-face baseline assessments were conducted among adults aged 60 years or older registered with one of the primary care clinics and identified with clinically significant depressive symptomatology (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] score ≥10). Community health workers delivered the programme through home sessions, supported by a dedicated tablet application. Masking of clinic staff and community health workers who delivered the intervention was not feasible; however, research assistants conducting recruitment and follow-up assessments were masked to trial allocation. The primary outcome was recovery from depression (PHQ-9 score <10) at 8-month follow-up. All primary analyses were performed by intention to treat with imputed data. Adaptations to the protocol were made due to the COVID-19 pandemic; recruitment and intervention home sessions were stopped, and follow-up assessments were conducted by telephone. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, ISRCTN57805470. FINDINGS We identified 24 primary care clinics in Guarulhos that were willing to participate, of which 20 were randomly allocated to either the control group (ten [50%] clusters) or to the intervention group (ten [50%] clusters). The four remaining eligible clusters were kept as reserves. Between May 23, 2019, and Feb 21, 2020, 8146 individuals were assessed for eligibility, of whom 715 (8·8%) participants were recruited: 355 (49·7%) in the control group and 360 (50·3%) in the intervention group. 284 (80·0%) participants in the control group and 253 (70·3%) in the intervention group completed follow-up at 8 months. At 8-month follow-up, 158 (62·5%) participants in the intervention group showed recovery from depression (PHQ-9 score <10) compared with 125 (44·0%) in the control group (adjusted odds ratio 2·16 [95% CI 1·47-3·18]; p<0·0001). These findings were maintained in the complete case analysis. No adverse events related to the intervention were observed. INTERPRETATION Although the COVID-19 pandemic altered delivery of the intervention, the low-intensity psychosocial intervention delivered mainly by non-mental health professionals was highly efficacious in improving recovery from depression in older adults in Brazil. Our results support a low-resource intervention that could be useful to reduce the treatment gap for depression among older people in other LMICs. FUNDING São Paulo Research Foundation and Joint Global Health Trials (UK Department for International Development, Medical Research Council, and the Wellcome Trust).
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcia Scazufca
- Instituto de Psiquiatria, Hospital das Clinicas, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Carina A Nakamura
- Departamento de Psiquiatria, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Nadine Seward
- Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Darío Moreno-Agostino
- Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health, King's College London, London, UK; Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Social Research Institute, University College London, London, UK
| | - Pepijn van de Ven
- Health Research Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
| | - William Hollingworth
- Health Economics Bristol, Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Tim J Peters
- Bristol Dental School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ricardo Araya
- Health Service and Population Research, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
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