A study led by the Universitat de València demonstrates the effectiveness of transdiagnostic psychologic therapy for anxiety and depression in primary care

The anxiety and depression disorders represent a challenge for public health, with high taxes of prevalence and a considerable impact in life-quality. Though evidence supports the efficacy of the transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy, its implementation in environments such as primary care is still limited.

The clinical trial, which has been developed in six health centres from the Valencian Community and has included 320 patients, used an innovative methodologic design called Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial, that allows to use the treatment staggered in different centres and guarantees that all patients end up receiving intervention. This strategy allows to evaluate the effectiveness of the protocol in real conditions inside the public health system.

The clinic recovery taxes doubled in contrast to the common treatment: the 52% of patients that received the intervention achieved a complete recovery, compared to the 20% from the group that only got their common assistance. Furthermore, the clinic deterioration cases were reduced drastically and went from a 12% in the control group to just a 1% in the treated group.

“This study demonstrates that transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural group therapy is effective in the real world of health centres. With only seven sessions, half of the patients clinically recover and the results are even better if the treatment is started as soon as possible”, explains Gabriel Esteller-Collado.

The 52% of patients that started the treatment immediately achieved a clinic recovery, while in the group that waited several weeks to receive intervention the recovery was of a 43%. This reinforces the necessity in the reduction of waiting times in mental health and of integrating psychologists in primary care, making easier the access to brief and efficient treatments based on scientific evidence.

The study, titled PsicAP-CV, has recently been published in the prestigious magazine Journal of Anxiety Disorders. It has counted with Virtudes Pérez Jover, from the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, as main co-researcher and co-director, and with the leadership of Gabriel Esteller-Collado, postdoctoral researcher of the UV, as first author. The study, financed by the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, is framed inside the Project of Knowledge Generation (PID2021-125965OB-I00).

This work supposes a decisive advance in the tackling of most frequent emotional diseases in primary care and offers a staggered model for other territories with high demand and limited resources.

Article: Effectiveness of a transdiagnostic protocol for anxiety and depression in primary care: The PsicAP-CV Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial

https://extension.uned.es/actividad/idactividad/43835&idioma=en