Patient characteristics associated with retrospectively self-reported treatment outcomes following psychological therapy for anxiety or depressive disorders - a cohort of GLAD study participants

Christopher Rayner; Jonathan R I Coleman; Megan Skelton; Cherie Armour; John Bradley; Joshua E J Buckman; Molly R Davies; Colette R Hirsch; Matthew Hotopf; Christopher Hübel; Ian R Jones; Gursharan Kalsi; Nathalie Kingston; Georgina Krebs; Yuhao Lin; Dina Monssen; Andrew M McIntosh; Jessica R Mundy; Alicia J Peel; Katharine A Rimes; Henry C Rogers; Daniel J Smith; Abigail R Ter Kuile; Katherine N Thompson; David Veale; Janet Wingrove; James T R Walters; Gerome Breen; Thalia C Eley

doi:10.1186/s12888-022-04275-6

Patient characteristics associated with retrospectively self-reported treatment outcomes following psychological therapy for anxiety or depressive disorders - a cohort of GLAD study participants

BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Nov 18;22(1):719. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04275-6.

Authors

Christopher Rayner¹, Jonathan R I Coleman^{1

2}, Megan Skelton^{1

2}, Cherie Armour³, John Bradley⁴, Joshua E J Buckman^{5

6}, Molly R Davies^{1

2}, Colette R Hirsch^{1

2

7}, Matthew Hotopf^{1

2}, Christopher Hübel^{1

2

8}, Ian R Jones⁹, Gursharan Kalsi^{1

2}, Nathalie Kingston¹⁰, Georgina Krebs^{1

7}, Yuhao Lin^{1

2}, Dina Monssen^{1

2}, Andrew M McIntosh¹¹, Jessica R Mundy¹, Alicia J Peel¹, Katharine A Rimes¹, Henry C Rogers^{1

2}, Daniel J Smith^{11

12}, Abigail R Ter Kuile^{1

2}, Katherine N Thompson¹, David Veale^{1

2

7}, Janet Wingrove⁷, James T R Walters⁹, Gerome Breen^{1

2}, Thalia C Eley^{13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
² UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK.
³ Research Centre for Stress Trauma & Related Conditions (STARC), School of Psychology, Queen's University Belfast (QUB), Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK.
⁴ NIHR BioResource, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
⁵ Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness (CORE), Research Department of Clinical, Educational & Health Psychology, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, WC1E 7HB, London, UK.
⁶ iCope - Camden & Islington Psychological Therapies Services - Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, St Pancras Hospital, NW1 0PE, London, UK.
⁷ South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, Denmark Hill, SE5 8AZ, London, UK.
⁸ Aarhus Business and Social Sciences, National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
⁹ MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ Division of Psychiatry, Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
¹² Institute of Health and Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
¹³ Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK. thalia.eley@kcl.ac.uk.
¹⁴ UK National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, London, UK. thalia.eley@kcl.ac.uk.

Abstract

Background: Progress towards stratified care for anxiety and depression will require the identification of new predictors. We collected data on retrospectively self-reported therapeutic outcomes in adults who received psychological therapy in the UK in the past ten years. We aimed to replicate factors associated with traditional treatment outcome measures from the literature.

Methods: Participants were from the Genetic Links to Anxiety and Depression (GLAD) Study, a UK-based volunteer cohort study. We investigated associations between retrospectively self-reported outcomes following therapy, on a five-point scale (global rating of change; GRC) and a range of sociodemographic, clinical and therapy-related factors, using ordinal logistic regression models (n = 2890).

Results: Four factors were associated with therapy outcomes (adjusted odds ratios, OR). One sociodemographic factor, having university-level education, was associated with favourable outcomes (OR = 1.37, 95%CI: 1.18, 1.59). Two clinical factors, greater number of reported episodes of illness (OR = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.92, 0.97) and higher levels of personality disorder symptoms (OR = 0.89, 95%CI: 0.87, 0.91), were associated with less favourable outcomes. Finally, reported regular use of additional therapeutic activities was associated with favourable outcomes (OR = 1.39, 95%CI: 1.19, 1.63). There were no statistically significant differences between fully adjusted multivariable and unadjusted univariable odds ratios.

Conclusion: Therapy outcome data can be collected quickly and inexpensively using retrospectively self-reported measures in large observational cohorts. Retrospectively self-reported therapy outcomes were associated with four factors previously reported in the literature. Similar data collected in larger observational cohorts may enable detection of novel associations with therapy outcomes, to generate new hypotheses, which can be followed up in prospective studies.

Keywords: Cognitive behavioral therapy; Counselling; Minimal phenotyping.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Anxiety / psychology
Cohort Studies
Depression* / therapy
Depressive Disorder*
Humans
Prospective Studies
Retrospective Studies
Self Report
Treatment Outcome

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding