METHODS: The study is being conducted as a randomized controlled intervention trial. Adult participants with unipolar depression are being randomized into three groups (BPT, MMT, or CG), and the first two groups are undergoing a 10-week treatment phase. CG follows their individual standard treatment as usual. A priori power analysis revealed that about 120 people should be included to capture a moderate effect. The primary outcome of the study is depression rated with the Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) before (t0), directly after (t1), and 12 months after the intervention phase (t2). Data are being collected via questionnaires, computer-assisted video interviews, and physical examinations. The primary hypotheses will be statistically analyzed by mixed model ANOVAs to compare the three groups over time. For secondary outcomes, further multivariate methods (e.g., mixed model ANOVAs and regression analyses) will be conducted. Qualitative data will be evaluated on the basis of the qualitative thematic analysis.
DISCUSSION: This study is investigating psychological and physical effects of BPT and MMT and its factors of influence on outpatients suffering from depression compared with a CG in a highly naturalistic design. The study could therefore provide insight into the modes of action of group therapy for depression and help to establish new short-term group treatments. Methodological limitations of the study might be the clinical heterogeneity of the sample and confounding effects due to simultaneous individual psychotherapy.
TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN, ISRCTN12347878. Registered 28 March 2022, https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN12347878 .
METHODS: Participants answered a needs assessment questionnaire eliciting information about their illness perception (Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Brief-IPQ)), emotions (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)), willingness to participate in psychological interventions, preferences in types of PPI and intervention designs, as well as barriers in seeking mental health services.
RESULTS: A total of 154 patients with epilepsy participated, with a mean age of 37.3years (range 16-86years). Most patients had focal epilepsy (68.2%), and drug-resistant (59.1%). Majority (71.4%) of them indicated a strong willingness to participate in PPI. Out of nine types of PPI, character strengths, mindfulness-based and expressive-based interventions were highly preferred. Those with negative illness perception (p=0.001), anxiety (p=0.004), and being unemployed (p=0.048) were more willing to participate in PPI. Most participants preferred group rather than individual session, and a shorter duration (30min) was favored by most.
CONCLUSION: This study captured the self-report willingness to participate in psychological interventions. Findings suggested that psychological interventions delivered in short-group session were highly preferred. Future study is required to determine the feasibility of such design for patients with epilepsy.
Materials and Methods: Twenty healthy rats of the same breed and gender were randomly assigned to two groups of sham, and Doxycycline group therapy. The rats underwent a surgical intervention in which a 2mm incision was performed on the lateral sides of the right Achilles tendons. The treatment group received oral gavage administrations of 50mg/kg/day of doxycycline for 30 days. After this duration, tissue samples were taken from the site of the injuries, which were then histologically evaluated for alignment of the collagen fibres, inflammation reaction, cellular density, and fibroblastic activity.
Results: The histological assessment of the tissue samples, revealed significant changes in the repaired tissues of the treatment group in comparison to the sham group; namely more irregularity in the alignment of the collagen fibres, increased cellular density, and increased fibroblastic activity. However, only the alignment of the collagen fibres reached the statistical significance.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that exposure to doxycycline may result in the improvement of repair of the Achilles tendon injuries, especially collagen filament integrity.
METHODS: A parallel-group unblinded randomized controlled trial involving 300 patients was conducted in two hospital orthopedics clinics in Malaysia. Patients were randomly assigned to receive cognitive behavioral-based group therapy (n = 150) or no further intervention (n = 150). The primary outcome was the change from baseline in knee pain as determined by the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) at 6 months. The data collected were analyzed by covariate-adjusted mixed design repeated measures analysis of variance. All analyses were performed under the terms of intention-to-treat.
RESULTS: At 6 months, mean change from baseline in the KOOS knee pain score was 0.6 points (95% CI -1.73 to 2.94) in the control group and 8.9 points (95% CI 6.62 to 11.23) (denoting less knee pain intensity) in the intervention group (significant treatment effect p < 0.0001). Patients treated with such an approach also experienced significant improvement in functional ability when performing activities of daily living and had improved ability to cope with depression, anxiety and pain catastrophizing.
CONCLUSION: The intervention module delivered by healthcare professionals had a sustained effect on knee OA pain and functionality over 6 months, thereby leading to an overall improvement in psychological well-being, thus benefitting most of the Malaysian knee OA patients.
METHODS: Unstructured observations and a focus-group discussion were carried out with 18 participants involved in a six-week SRT program in a residential care facility in Kuala Lumpur.
RESULTS: Analysis revealed four themes: (i) Enthusiastic participation; (ii) Connections across boundaries; (iii) Expressing and reflecting; and (iv) Successful use of triggers.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that the process of reminiscence, on which the program was based, was enjoyable for the participants and created opportunities to form connections with other members of the group. The use of relevant triggers in the SRT program that related to Malaysian cultures, ethnicities and religions was helpful to engage the participants and was acceptable across the different religions and ethnicities.