Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37914347›Full record

SynthesisBMJ mental health2023

Treatments for partial remission of major depressive disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Joost Gülpen, Marlies E Brouwer, Gert J Geurtsen, Eva A M van Dis, Damiaan A J P Denys, Claudi L Bockting

Open access · diamondAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMJ mental health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
3.4field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Joost GülpenDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.ORCID 0009-0008-1373-9820
Marlies E BrouwerDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Gert J GeurtsenDepartment of Medical Psychology, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Eva A M van DisDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Damiaan A J P DenysDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Claudi L BocktingDepartment of Psychiatry, Amsterdam UMC Location AMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands c.l.bockting@amsterdamumc.nl.
Amsterdam University Medical Centers · NLAmsterdam Neuroscience · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

questionPartial remission of major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating and distressing clinical state related to chronicity, morbidity and relapse. Although one-third of patients remit partially, evidence for treatment efficacy is unclear. We provide an overview of treatment options and their efficacy. STUDY SELECTION AND ANALYSIS: Embase, PsycINFO, Medline and SCOPUS were systematically searched through February 2023. Included were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) examining any treatment in patients with partially remitted MDD aged 13-65 years, reporting data on severity, remission or relapse.

findingsSeven RCTs examining psychotherapy including 1024 patients were eligible. There were not enough RCTs to examine effects of pharmacotherapy. Psychotherapy was associated with lower depressive symptom severity at post-treatment (Hedges' g=0.50; 95% CI 0.23 to 0.76), but not at follow-up up to 1 year (Hedges' g=0.36; 95% CI -0.30 to 1.02) or longer (Hedges' g=0.02; 95% CI -0.09 to 0.12). Psychotherapy was associated with superior remission rates at post-treatment (OR 2.57; 95% CI 1.71 to 3.87) and follow-up 6 months or longer (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.21 to 2.53), although not with improved relapse rates at post-treatment (OR 0.17; 95% CI 0.01 to 4.83) or follow-up 6 months or longer (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.21 to 1.03). Overall methodological quality was poor.

conclusionsPsychotherapy targeting partial remission may be effective in lowering depressive symptom severity and patients may potentially achieve full remission twice as likely. Yet, long-term and prophylactic effects are lacking. Given the risk of chronicity, more high-quality RCTs are needed. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020188451.

Indexed as

Major Depressive DisorderHumansPsychotherapyRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicRecurrenceTreatment Outcomeadult psychiatrydepression & mood disorders

Identifiers

PMID37914347
PMCPMC10626872
OpenAlexW4388126481

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.