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S45.01 - Interpersonal psychotherapy - New results in chronic depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

E. Schramm
E. Schramm*
Affiliation:
University Medical Center Freiburg, Department of Psychiatry, Freiburg, Germany

Abstract

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Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) proved to be effective for the treatment of acute depressive episodes for which it was originally developed. However, for chronic depression (dysthymia), IPT with or without pharmacotherapy did not show a benefit over pharmacotherapy alone in terms of symptom reduction (Browne et al., 2002; Markowitz et al., 2005). In the study of Markowitz et al. (2005) it was not even superior to the control condition. However, the investigations using IPT with dysthymic patients had some shortcomings such as the use of a non-modified version of IPT (Browne et al., 2002) or insufficient statistical power (De Mello et al., 2001; Markowitz et al., 2005).

Data reanalysis from a larger study (Schramm et al., 2007) with 45 inpatients suffering from chronic Major Depressive Disorder that were randomized to 5 weeks of either combined treatment with IPT (15 individual and 8 group sessions) plus pharmacotherapy or to standard treatment (pharmacotherapy plus Clinical Management). The study included a prospective naturalistic follow-up, 3- and 12-months after discharge.

The brief, but intensive combined treatment program had significant acute and long-term benefits over medication monotherapy in chronically depressed inpatients. In summary, while limited by some factors, the results of this study provide hope that with intensive treatment chronically depressed patients have a good chance of getting well relatively quickly and with lasting effects.

Type
Symposium: Psychotherapy of chronic depression – different approaches, equal efficacy?
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 23 , Issue S2: 16th AEP Congress - Abstract book - 16th AEP Congress , April 2008 , pp. S58 - S59
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2008

References

Browne, G., Steiner, M., Roberts, J., Gafni, A., Byrne, C., Dunn, E., Bell, B., Mills, M., Chalklin, L., Wallik, D., Kraemer, J. 2002. Sertraline and/or interpersonal psychotherapy for patients with dysthymic disorder in primary care: 6-month comparison with longitudinal 2-year follow-up of effectiveness and costs. J. Affect. Disord. 68, 317-330.Google Scholar
De Mello, M.F., Myczcowisk, L.M., Menezes, P.R. 2001. A randomized controlled trial comparing moclobemide and moclobemide plus interpersonal psychotherapy in the treatment of dysthymic disorder. J. Psychother. Pract. Res.10, 117-123.Google Scholar
Markowitz, J.C., Kocsis, J.H., Bleiberg, K.L., Christos, P.J., Sacks, M. 2005. A comparative trial of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy for "pure" dysthymic patients. J. Affect. Disord. 89, 167-175.Google Scholar
Schramm, E., van Calker, D., Lieb, K., Dykierek, P., Kech, S., Zobel, I., Leonhart, R., Berger, M. 2007. An intensive treatment program of Interpersonal Psychotherapy plus pharmacotherapy for depressed inpatients: acute and long-term results. Am. J. Psychiatry. 164, 768-777.10.1176/ajp.2007.164.5.768CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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