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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2011 Jun;68(6):627-36.
doi: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.55.

Collaborative depression care management and disparities in depression treatment and outcomes

Yuhua Bao  1 , George S Alexopoulos, Lawrence P Casalino, Thomas R Ten Have, Julie M Donohue, Edward P Post, Bruce R Schackman, Martha L Bruce
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Collaborative depression care management and disparities in depression treatment and outcomes

Yuhua Bao et al. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2011 Jun.

Abstract

Context: Collaborative depression care management (DCM), by addressing barriers disproportionately affecting patients of racial/ethnic minority and low education, may reduce disparities in depression treatment and outcomes.

Objective: To examine the effects of DCM on treatment disparities by education and race/ethnicity in older depressed primary care patients.

Design: Analysis of data from the randomized controlled trial Prevention of Suicide in Primary Care Elderly: Collaborative Trial (PROSPECT).

Setting: Twenty primary care practices.

Participants: A total of 396 individuals 60 years or older with major depression. We conducted model-based analysis to estimate potentially differential intervention effects by education, independent of those by race/ethnicity (and vice versa).

Intervention: Algorithm-based recommendations to physicians and care management by care managers.

Main outcome measures: Antidepressant use, depressive symptoms, and intensity of DCM over 2 years.

Results: The PROSPECT intervention had a larger and more lasting effect in less-educated patients. At month 12, the intervention increased the rate of adequate antidepressant use by 14.2 percentage points (pps) (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.7 to 26.4 pps) in the no-college group compared with a null effect in the college-educated group (-9.2 pps [95% CI, -25.0 to 2.7 pps]); at month 24, the intervention reduced depressive symptoms by 2.6 pps on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (95% CI, -4.6 to -0.4 pps) in no-college patients, 3.8 pps (95% CI, -6.8 to -0.4) more than in the college group. The intervention benefitted non-Hispanic white patients more than minority patients. Intensity of DCM received by minorities was 60% to 70% of that received by white patients after the initial phase but did not differ by education.

Conclusions: The PROSPECT intervention substantially reduced disparities by patient education but did not mitigate racial/ethnic disparities in depression treatment and outcomes. Incorporation of culturally tailored strategies in DCM models may be needed to extend their benefits to minorities.

Trial registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier for

Prospect: NCT00279682.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Study Flow Diagram
Figure 2
Figure 2. Antidepressant use and HDRS by practice randomization assignment and patient education or race/ethnicity: Descriptive results
Note: Sample sizes shown are based on number of patient observations with non-missing values for a given measure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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