Clinical trial NCT01239407: Culturally-focused Consultation for Asian Americans and Latino Americans
Official title: Culturally Focused Psychiatric Consultation Service for Asian American and Latino American Primary Care Patients With Depression
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Depression
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
First posted: 2010-11-11
Enrollment: 122
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to determine if a culturally focused psychiatric (CFP) consultation service can improve depressive symptoms and increase diagnosis and treatment of depression in Asian American and Latino American primary care patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Detailed description: This study's aim is to determine if a culturally focused mental health consultation will help Latino and Asian Americans who are experiencing sadness, stress, or other symptoms of depression. Eligible adults must already have a primary care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

In this study, patients will be randomly assigned, like the flip of a coin, to receive the culturally focused intervention or treatment as usual. Those who receive the intervention will have three sessions with study personnel, during which they will generally discuss and learn techniques for dealing with their mental health. Those who receive treatment as usual, meaning the regular care they receive through their primary care practice, will have two sessions with study personnel during which they will generally discuss their mental health. All study visits and patient materials are provided in patients' language of choice - English, Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, or Vietnamese. All patients will be compensated for completing study visits.

About half of the study patients in both arms will also be invited to participate in optional qualitative interviews, in which they will be asked questions about their expectations for the research study and their ideas for improving culturally sensitive mental health services. In addition, a small sample of Asian American patients who did not participate in the study but who have PCPs at the sites where the study was conducted will be contacted for a qualitative interview. This interview will address reasons why Asian American recruitment for the study was so challenging.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Capable of giving informed consent
* Adults 18 years of age or older
* Members of either Asian American or Latino American minority groups
* Currently experiencing depressive symptoms

Exclusion Criteria:

* Active unstable, untreated psychiatric illness precluding participation in study

Primary outcomes:
measure: To determine if a culturally focused psychiatric (CFP) consultation service can improve depressive symptoms and increase diagnosis and treatment of depression in Asian American and Latino American primary care patients at MGH.
timeFrame: 6 months after baseline assessment
Secondary outcomes:
measure: To determine the feasibility and cost associated with implementing a CFP consultation service within a primary care setting at MGH.
timeFrame: Two years after study enrollment began
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Massachusetts General Hospital
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: Nhi-Ha Trinh, M.D., MPH
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: Andres Bedoya, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Kirmayer LJ, Thombs BD, Jurcik T, Jarvis GE, Guzder J. Use of an expanded version of the DSM-IV outline for cultural formulation on a cultural consultation service. Psychiatr Serv. 2008 Jun;59(6):683-6. doi: 10.1176/ps.2008.59.6.683.
citation: Yeung A, Yu SC, Fung F, Vorono S, Fava M. Recognizing and engaging depressed Chinese Americans in treatment in a primary care setting. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;21(9):819-23. doi: 10.1002/gps.1566.
citation: Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The Patient Health Questionnaire-2: validity of a two-item depression screener. Med Care. 2003 Nov;41(11):1284-92. doi: 10.1097/01.MLR.0000093487.78664.3C.
citation: Trinh NH, Bedoya CA, Chang TE, Flaherty K, Fava M, Yeung A. A study of a culturally focused psychiatric consultation service for Asian American and Latino American primary care patients with depression. BMC Psychiatry. 2011 Oct 13;11:166. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-11-166.