title: Effect of psychological interventions on depressive symptoms in long-term rehabilitation after an acquired brain injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To summarize empirical studies on the effectiveness of psychological interventions in long-term rehabilitation after an acquired brain injury (ABI) in reducing depressive symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search was conducted on MEDLINE, PsycINFO, Embase, and CINAHL to identify articles published between January 1990 and October 2011. Search terms included the 3 concepts (1) "brain injur*" or "stroke," (2) "psychotherap*" or "therapy" or "intervention" or "rehabilitation," and (3) "depress*."
  
  
  METHODS
  Studies evaluating psychological interventions in patients after ABI were included. Time since injury was on average more than 1 year. Trials reported data on validated depression questionnaires before and after the psychological intervention.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two independent reviewers extracted information from the sample, the intervention, and the outcome of the included studies and calculated effect sizes (ESs) from depression questionnaires. Thirteen studies were included in a pre-post analysis. Seven studies were eligible for a meta-analysis of ESs in active interventions and control conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pre-post ESs were significant in 4 of 13 studies. The overall ES of .69 (95% confidence interval [CI], .29-1.09) suggests a medium effectiveness of psychological interventions on depressive symptoms compared with control conditions. Moderator analysis of the number of sessions and adequate randomization procedure did not show significant ES differences between strata. Studies with adequate randomization did not, however, suggest the effectiveness of psychological interventions on depressive symptoms after ABI.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Psychological interventions are a promising treatment option for depressive symptoms in long-term rehabilitation after ABI. Since only a few adequately randomized controlled trials (RCTs) exist, more RCTs are required to confirm this initial finding.
authors: Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 49, Bern, Switzerland. franziska.luethy@psy.unibe.ch
authors: Franziska
authors: F
authors: Stalder-Lüthy
authors: Nadine
authors: N
authors: Messerli-Bürgy
authors: Helene
authors: H
authors: Hofer
authors: Eveline
authors: E
authors: Frischknecht
authors: Hansjörg
authors: H
authors: Znoj
authors: Jürgen
authors: J
authors: Barth
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology / Q000379:methods; D012947:Social Work / Q000379:methods; D013997:Time Factors