Pitceathly, C., Maguire, P., Fletcher, I., Parle, M., Tomenson, B., & Creed, F. (2009). Can a brief psychological intervention prevent anxiety or depressive disorders in cancer patients? A randomised controlled trial. Annals of Oncology, 20, 928–934.
To test the hypothesis that a brief intervention would be superior to usual care to prevent anxiety or depressive disorders among newly diagnosed patients with cancer
The structured intervention was based on cognitive behavioral therapy geared toward coping and exploring beliefs and thoughts about illness. The first session was 90 minutes in person with a therapist, followed by two 45-minute sessions two and six weeks later via telephone.
Active treatment phase
A randomized controlled trial design was used.
By the six-month time point, approximately 27% of participants were lost to follow-up or had dropped out of the study for various reasons. Those variables found to predict drop-out were age, gender, previous psychiatric history, and concerns score, some of which were the same variables reported to be predictive of developing an anxiety or depressive disorder.
At the 12-month follow-up, there was no difference between groups. In patients at high risk for developing an anxiety or depressive disorder, those in the intervention group were less likely to develop a disorder (p = 0.05). There was no difference in findings based on the timing of the intervention (immediate – within one week of starting treatment, versus delayed – eight weeks after starting treatment).
The brief intervention studied may have potential for preventing development of anxiety or depressive disorders only in those patients who were at initial high risk for development of those disorders.