title: Lay health worker led intervention for depressive and anxiety disorders in India: impact on clinical and disability outcomes over 12 months.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Depressive and anxiety disorders (common mental disorders) are the most common psychiatric condition encountered in primary healthcare.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To test the effectiveness of an intervention led by lay health counsellors in primary care settings (the MANAS intervention) to improve the outcomes of people with common mental disorders.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four primary care facilities (12 public, 12 private) in Goa (India) were randomised to provide either collaborative stepped care or enhanced usual care to adults who screened positive for common mental disorders. Participants were assessed at 2, 6 and 12 months for presence of ICD-10 common mental disorders, the severity of symptoms of depression and anxiety, suicidal behaviour and disability levels. All analyses were intention to treat and carried out separately for private and public facilities and adjusted for the design. The trial has been registered with clinical trials.gov (NCT00446407).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2796 participants were recruited. In public facilities, the intervention was consistently associated with strong beneficial effects over the 12 months on all outcomes. There was a 30% decrease in the prevalence of common mental disorders among those with baseline ICD-10 diagnoses (risk ratio (RR) = 0.70, 95% CI 0.53-0.92); and a similar effect among the subgroup of participants with depression (RR = 0.76, 95% CI 0.59-0.98). Suicide attempts/plans showed a 36% reduction over 12 months (RR=0.64, 95% CI0.42–0.98) among baseline ICD-10 cases. Strong effects were observed on days out of work and psychological morbidity, and modest effects on overall disability [corrected]. In contrast, there was little evidence of impact of the intervention on any outcome among participants attending private facilities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Trained lay counsellors working within a collaborative-care model can reduce prevalence of common mental disorders, suicidal behaviour, psychological morbidity and disability days among those attending public primary care facilities.
authors: Department of Nutrition and Public Health Intervention Research, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, UK and Sangath, Goa, India. Vikram.patel@lshtm.ac.uk
authors: Vikram
authors: V
authors: Patel
authors: Helen A
authors: HA
authors: Weiss
authors: Neerja
authors: N
authors: Chowdhary
authors: Smita
authors: S
authors: Naik
authors: Sulochana
authors: S
authors: Pednekar
authors: Sudipto
authors: S
authors: Chatterjee
authors: Bhargav
authors: B
authors: Bhat
authors: Ricardo
authors: R
authors: Araya
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: King
authors: Gregory
authors: G
authors: Simon
authors: Helena
authors: H
authors: Verdeli
authors: Betty R
authors: BR
authors: Kirkwood
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D003150:Community Health Workers; D003376:Counseling; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006269:Health Facilities, Proprietary; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D017150:Public Sector; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013405:Suicide / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000092864:Suicide Prevention