ArticleBMJ open2026
Preparation for online psychological therapy for depression in people living with and beyond cancer in East Midlands NHS primary and secondary care services in England: protocol for the PROSPER randomised controlled trial.
Article in BMJ open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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.
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.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
18 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionDepression is up to four times more common among individuals with cancer compared with the general population. Psychological therapies are effective in treating depression among patients in cancer care, but access is often delayed, which can exacerbate symptoms, increase dropout and reduce therapeutic effectiveness. This study evaluates the clinical and cost-effectiveness of a therapy preparation intervention (TPI) designed to enhance engagement and outcomes among patients awaiting psychological therapy in cancer care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This study is a parallel-group, two-arm, multicentre, single-blind randomised controlled trial. A total of 150 adults (≥18 years) living with or beyond cancer and experiencing moderate-to-severe depression will be recruited from health services in the East Midlands region of England. Participants will be randomised (1:1) to receive either TPI plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone.The primary outcome is depression severity measured using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-items (PHQ-9) over a 24-week follow-up. Secondary outcomes include anxiety, functioning, mental well-being, patient activation, readiness for change, health-related quality of life and health economics, and therapy engagement including attendance and dropout. Hope and in-session patient activation, assessed using recorded treatment preparation sessions, will be explored as additional mechanistic variables. Health economic outcomes will be assessed at baseline and 24 weeks. Data will be collected via online or telephone surveys at baseline, and at 4, 8, 12 and 24 weeks post randomisation. Qualitative interviews with a subset of participants will explore intervention experiences, analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been obtained from the Health Research Authority and National Health Service Research Ethics Committee (Bromley) (REC reference: 24/LO/0610). Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals, academic conferences and clinical and patient networks. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ISRCTN registry: ISRCTN13692666, registered on 18 October 2024.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
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.