Multidisciplinary and multimodal interventions for depressive and anxiety disorders: A single-arm meta-analysis

• Published in: Journal of psychotherapy integration 2024-10
• Main Authors: Wijnen, Jaap, Gordon, Nicole Louise, Dierickx, Emilyn, Vardar, Joyce, Hullenaar, Geert van't, Van Oosterwijck, Jessica, de Jong, Jeroen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anxiety Disorders; Human; Interdisciplinary Treatment Approach; Intervention; Major Depression
• ISSN: 1053-0479; 1573-3696
• DOI: 10.1037/int0000347

While multidisciplinary multimodal interventions hold promise for the treatment of depressive and/or anxiety disorders, no meta-analysis has yet synthesized the findings from studies evaluating these interventions. Therefore, this study aims to examine changes in patient-reported and observer-rated outcomes over time among individuals undergoing such interventions, specifically focusing on changes from pre- to posttreatment and identify whether observed changes are sustained until follow-up. Cohorts from studies assessing the efficacy and effectiveness of these interventions for individuals with a diagnosed depressive and/or anxiety disorders were assessed for eligibility. Five electronic databases were systematically searched from inception to July 2022, resulting in inclusion of 22 cohorts (978 patients) from efficacy studies and 10 cohorts (1,520 patients) from effectiveness studies. Single-arm meta-analysis, utilizing pre–post effect sizes, was conducted separately for cohorts from efficacy and effectiveness studies. Changes over time for pre–post, postfollow-up, and prefollow-up contrasts were calculated for depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, overall psychiatric symptoms, global functioning, quality of life, and physical activity. The findings indicate that a favorable pre–post effect was observed in the majority of included cohorts, and these improvements were largely maintained until the end of follow-up across all outcome domains. However, caution is warranted in interpreting these results due to the use of single-arm meta-analysis with pre–post effect sizes. It is plausible that the observed results may not solely be attributed to the investigated interventions, as other uncontrolled factors likely influence the results. Moreover, substantial heterogeneity in participants and intervention characteristics were identified across the included study cohorts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved) (Source: journal abstract)