Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for Primary Care Patients
Condition: Depression, Anxiety
MeSH terms: Depression; Depressive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study is done to evaluate the effects of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for
      primary care patients that have mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Half of
      the study participants will receive treatment as usual (TAU), and the other half will receive
      TAU plus MBCT. The investigators will be comparing changes in symptoms of depression and
      anxiety between the groups, and hypothesize that the TAU plus MBCT group will have
      significantly lower symptoms of depression and anxiety compared to TAU group
      post-intervention
    

Detailed description: 
      Patients that show mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety are common in the
      primary care setting. These patients are often treated with antidepressant or anxiolytic
      medication instead of cognitive therapy, which is the first choice of treatment according to
      clinical guidelines in Iceland. Although these patients are often referred to cognitive
      therapy, there are long waiting lists for group therapy and personal therapy is expensive.
      MBCT has been shown to have good effects on people with recurrent depression and on patients
      suffering from anxiety. Therefore, the investigators main objective is to assess whether MBCT
      is effective in the primary care setting for patients with mild symptoms of anxiety and
      depression and compare its effect to TAU.
    

Intervention name(s): Mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT); Treatment as usual (TAU)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Other
Intervention description(s): Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). This group receives 8 weeks of MBCT in addition to usual treatment (TAU). The MBCT consists of weekly group sessions of 2,5 hours, where participants receive cognitive therapy as well as mindfulness meditation. This group is also assigned homework, according to the MBCT protocol.; Usual treatment prescribed by each physician, specifically interview therapy, cognitive therapy, antidepressants and/or anxiolytics as well as a mixture of all of the above.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Intervention model description: Randomized clinical trial, where patients are randomized to two groups. Group 1 receives treatment as usual, group 2 receives treatment as usual plus Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for symptoms of mild to moderate depression or anxiety.
Our primary aim is to investigate whether MBCT added to TAU is more effective than TAU alone in reducing mild to moderate symptoms of depression and/or anxiety among primary care patients.
Our secondary aim is to investigate whether MBCT added to TAU is more effective than TAU alone in:
Increasing subjective wellbeing
Reducing antidepressant/anxiolytica use for primary care patients, with mild to moderate symptoms of depression and/or anxiety.
Masking: Single (Investigator)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Mild to moderate Depression; Mild to moderate Anxiety; Mindfulness based cognitive therapy; Primary care; PHQ-9; GAD-7; Antidepressants; Anxiolytica; Subjective wellbeing