Psychological treatment of depressive symptoms in Chinese elderly inpatients with significant medical comorbidity: A meta-analysis
2011

Psychological Treatment for Depression in Chinese Elderly Inpatients

Sample size: 816 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Dai Bibing, Li Juan, Cuijpers Pim

Primary Institution: Center for Ageing Psychology, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Hypothesis

Are psychological treatments effective for depressive symptoms in elderly inpatients with significant medical comorbidity?

Conclusion

Psychological treatments are effective for reducing depressive symptoms and improving somatic symptoms in Chinese elderly inpatients with significant medical comorbidity.

Supporting Evidence

  • Psychological treatments showed large effects on depressive symptoms.
  • The overall effect size for depressive symptoms was d = 0.80.
  • Psychological treatments also had moderate effects on somatic symptoms.
  • The relative risk of psychological intervention being effective was 1.52.

Takeaway

This study shows that talking therapies can help older people in hospitals feel less sad and also feel better physically.

Methodology

A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing psychological treatments for depression in elderly inpatients with medical comorbidity.

Potential Biases

Potential publication bias was indicated by funnel plot analysis.

Limitations

The quality of included studies was not optimal, and the number of studies was relatively small.

Participant Demographics

Elderly inpatients aged 60 and older with significant medical comorbidity.

Statistical Information

P-Value

<0.001

Confidence Interval

95% CI = 0.60-0.99

Statistical Significance

p<0.001

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1471-244X-11-92

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