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Testing a Precision Psychotherapy System for Low-income Patients

Not Applicable
Not yet recruiting
Conditions
Panic Disorder
Social Anxiety Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder
Specific Phobia
Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Dysthymic Disorder
Agoraphobia
Interventions
Behavioral: Pre-treatment psychotherapy recommendations
Registration Number
NCT05118594
Lead Sponsor
National Council of Scientific and Technical Research, Argentina
Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of an evidence-based system to recommend core interventions, before the beginning of treatment, to psychotherapists treating low-income patients with depressive or anxiety disorders.

Detailed Description

After providing a written inform consent, potential patients will undergo a 2-weeks screening period to determine if they meet eligibility criteria. Baseline information (i.e., derived from semi-structured intake interviews and baseline clinical measures) from patients who meet eligibility criteria and consent to participate in the study, will be use to feed a machine learning algorithm, developed in a previous study, to perform individual predictions and determine which interventions (i.e., cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, or patient-centered) will be recommended for the individual patient. This recommendation (i.e., about the most personally well-suited intervention for a given patient) will be provided to therapists before the beginning of treatment. Patients will be treated with 15 sessions of psychotherapy. The investigators will examine the extent to which therapists adhered to the recommended interventions as the primary outcome. The investigators will also examine patient symptomatic/functional improvement as a secondary outcome.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
111
Inclusion Criteria
  • Diagnoses of a depressive disorder (i.e., major depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder) or an anxiety disorder (i.e., specific phobia, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder, agoraphobia or generalized anxiety disorder) determined with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)
  • A score of at least two (mild) in any the five items from the depression and anxiety domains of the DSM-5 Self-Rated Level 1 Cross-Cutting Symptom Measure-Adult
  • A total family income below the poverty index threshold, determined by a Licensed Social Worker
  • Aged 18 to 65
  • Fluency in Spanish language
  • Capacity to consent
Exclusion Criteria
  • Psychosis
  • Mania
  • Suicidal ideation with intent and/or plan
  • Substance abuse disorders
  • History of organic mental disease.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Pre-treatment recommendationsPre-treatment psychotherapy recommendationsTherapists receive automatized feedback at the beginning of the treatments with recommendations regarding the most appropriate interventions to use with their patients based on a machine learning algorithm developed on a previous study.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change from Baseline in Depressive Severity on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) at Week 15Baseline and Week 15

The PHQ-9 is a validated 9-item self-reported measure of depression severity grounded on the diagnostic criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV (DSM-IV), with higher scores representing greater severity. Items are rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Not at all") to 3 ("Nearly every day").

Change= Estimated weekly change from Baseline to Week 15 from a multilevel growth curve model

Change from Baseline in Overall Functioning on the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) at Week 15Baseline and Week 15

The WHODAS is a validated self-reported measure that evaluates overall functioning with 12 items rated on a five-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("None") to 4 ("Extreme"). Greater scores represents higher disability.

Change= Estimated weekly change on severity from Baseline to Week 15 from a multilevel growth curve model

Average Adherence to the Recommended Interventions on the Multitheoretical List of Therapeutic Interventions (MULTI-30) Across TreatmentWeek 1 and Week 15

The MULTI-30 is a validated and reliable measure to assessed the adherence to therapeutic interventions in a given session. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("Not at all typical to the session") to 5 ("Very typical to the session"). For the project the investigators will test the following MULTI-30 subscales: Cognitive, Behavioral, Interpersonal, and Person-centered. In this study the investigators will use the therapist version of the MULTI-30.

Average Adherence= Mean Score of the Recommended Interventions Across all the Sessions of the Treatment.

Change from Baseline in Anxiety Severity on the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) at Week 15Baseline and Week 15

The GAD-7 is a self-reported measure that evaluates the overall anxiety severity with seven items rated on a four-point Likert scale ranging from 0 ("Not at all) to 3 ("Nearly every day"). Greater scores represents higher severity.

Change= Estimated weekly change on severity from Baseline to Week 15 from a multilevel growth curve model

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Diagnostic Status at Week 15 in the Primary Diagnoses Identified at Baseline with the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric InterviewBaseline and Week 15

The MINI is a brief structured diagnostic interview for psychiatric disorders developed based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) diagnostic criteria. Several studies have positioned the MINI as a highly reliable and valid instrument for determine psychiatric disorders.

Diagnostic Status= Determine if the primary diagnoses remain at Week 15

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