[An educational programme for coping with depression: a randomized controlled trial].
BACKGROUND
Depression is a serious health problem, with lifetime prevalence in the western world of 20-30%. Only a relatively small proportion of depressed people receive treatment; hence there is a great need for further development of feasible treatment programmes.


METHODS
A psycho-educative group-based treatment programme was tested in a randomized controlled study of unipolar depression. The size of the intervention group was 81 as against 74 in the control group. The programme lasted 8 weeks with weekly sessions of 2(1/2) hours and booster sessions after 1, 2 and 4 months. Each group had 8 to 10 participants; psychiatric nurses acted as facilitators.


RESULTS
The rate of improvement after 6 months was significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group. In the intervention group, 69% of participants showed significant improvement (reduction in the Beck Depression Inventory score of 6 points or more), compared to 37% in the control group. Improvement in the intervention group mainly took place during the first 8 weeks.


CONCLUSIONS
The treatment programme turned out to have a significant effect on unipolar depression and seems feasible in primary health care as well as in specialized psychiatric care.
Dalgard
Odd Steffen
OS
Nasjonalt folkehelseinstitutt, Postboks 4404 Nydalen, 0403 Oslo. odd.steffen.dalgard@fhi.no
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D018579:Patient Selection; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods; D012107:Research Design; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome