INID-Pilot

Post-stroke depression is one of the most common mental breakdowns and has been shown to be associated with poorer rehabilitative outcomes, lower quality of life and increased mortality. Nevertheless, post-stroke depression is not only underdiagnosed but also under-treated. Due to the heterogeneity of study designs, the evidence on treatment effects in post-stroke depression is still inconclusive. The overall aim of this prospective multi-centre study is therefore to examine the feasibility of manualised short-term outpatient psychotherapy for depression after stroke. For this purpose, participants will be recruited from three stroke units with locations in Düsseldorf and Heidelberg. Questionnaires are used to record changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, functional level and known risk factors for the development of depression 3, 6 and 12 months after the stroke. After discharge from inpatient rehabilitation treatment, participants with a diagnosis of depression are randomised to either an intervention group (integrative interpersonal psychotherapy) or a control group (standard treatment; treatment-as-usual). The outpatient treatment of the intervention group is manualised and specially adapted for stroke survivors. It integrates key features of the Unified Psychodynamic Protocol (UPP) for depressive disorders and the Cognitive-Behavioural Unified Protocol (CB-UP) for affective breakdowns. In addition to testing the feasibility of the intervention, an estimate of the expected treatment effect is to be generated in order to enable adequate sample planning for a subsequent confirmatory efficacy study.

 

Literature:

Volz, M., Mundiyanapurath, S., Schauenburg, H., Meuth, S. G., Wild, B., Werheid, K., Barber, J. P., Schäfer, R., Beerbaum, L., & Dinger, U. (2023). Integrative-interpersonal dynamic therapy for poststroke depression (INID): study protocol of a randomised controlled pilot trial. BMJ open, 13(8), e077656. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077656