Improving outcomes for patients with depression by enhancing antidepressant therapy with non-pharmacological interventions: a systematic review of reviews

Abstract

Objective: To analyse literature reviews reporting outcomes of non-pharmacological interventions directed at improving the treatment of depression.

Methods: A review of English articles was performed in June 2009 using the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Web of Science, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library. Only review articles comparing traditional pharmacotherapy and interventions combining pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments were included. Extraction of articles and quality assessment of included reviews was performed independently by two authors using the AMSTAR score.

Results: The articles in the final data set included research on psychotherapeutic, multifaceted and single-component interventions. Single-component interventions have failed to demonstrate improved outcome for patients with depression. Collaborative care and additional psychotherapy have been shown to provide more benefits for patients than pharmacotherapy alone. Both approaches have a small effect on short-term treatment, and psychotherapy is the most effective for long-term prognosis in terms of preventing relapse.

Conclusion: Conclusions regarding the effects of adherence-improving and multifaceted interventions are fairly certain. However, the findings about the impact of combined psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy on the outcomes of depression remain tentative due to the methodological limitations of available reviews.