Patterns of cognitive-emotional change after cognitive-behavioural treatment in emotional disorders: A 12-month longitudinal cluster analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to use cluster analysis based on the trajectory of five cognitive-emotional processes (worry, rumination, metacognition, cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) over time to explore differences in clinical and performance variables in primary care patients with emotional symptoms. METHODS: We compared the effect of adding transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural therapy (TD-CBT) to treatment as usual (TAU) according to cluster membership and sought to determine the variables that predicted cluster membership. 732 participants completed scales about cognitive-emotional processes, anxiety and depressive symptoms, functioning, and quality of life (QoL) at baseline, posttreatment, and at 12 months. Longitudinal cluster analysis and logistic regression analyses were carried out. RESULTS: A two-cluster solution was chosen as the best fit, named as "less" or "more" improvement in cognitive-emotional processes. Individuals who achieved more improvement in cognitive-emotional processes showed lower emotional symptoms and better QoL and functioning at all three time points. TAU+TD-CBT, income level, QoL and anxiety symptoms were significant predictors of cluster membership. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the value of adding TD-CBT to reduce maladaptive cognitive-emotional regulation strategies. These findings highlight the importance of the processes of change in therapy and demonstrate the relevance of the patient's cognitive-emotional profile in improving treatment outcomes.

Comparing psychological versus pharmacological treatment in emotional disorders: A network analysis.

Transdiagnostic group cognitive behavioural therapy (TD-GCBT) is more effective in improving symptoms and severity of emotional disorders (EDs) than treatment as usual (TAU; usually pharmacological treatment). However, there is little research that has examined the effects of these treatments on specific symptoms. This study used Network Intervention Analysis (NIA) to investigate the direct and differential effects of TD-GCBT + TAU and TAU on specific symptoms of anxiety and depression. Data are from a multicentre randomised clinical trial (N = 1061) comparing TD-GCBT + TAU versus TAU alone for EDs. The networks included items from the PHQ-9 (depression) and GAD-7 (anxiety) questionnaire and mixed graphical models were estimated at pre-treatment, post-treatment and 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up. Results revealed that TD-GCBT + TAU was associated with direct effects, mainly on several anxiety symptoms and depressed mood after treatment. New direct effects on other depressive symptoms emerged during the follow-up period promoted by TD-GCBT compared to TAU. Our results suggest that the improvement of anxiety symptoms after treatment might precipitate a wave of changes that favour a decrease in depressive symptomatology. NIA is a methodology that can provide fine-grained insight into the likely pathways through which treatments exert their effects.

Effect of Reliable Recovery on Health Care Costs and Productivity Losses in Emotional Disorders.

Despite the high economic costs associated with emotional disorders, relatively few studies have examined the variation in costs according to whether the patient has achieved a reliable recovery. The aim of this study was to explore differences in health care costs and productivity losses between primary care patients from a previous randomized controlled trial (RCT)-PsicAP-with emotional symptoms who achieved a reliable recovery and those who did not after transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy (TD-CBT) plus treatment as usual (TAU) or TAU alone. Sociodemographic and cost data were obtained for 134 participants treated at five primary care centers in Madrid for the 12-month posttreatment period. Reliable recovery rates were higher in the patients who received TD-CBT + TAU versus TAU alone (66% vs. 34%, respectively; chi-square = 13.78, df = 1, p < .001). Patients who did not achieve reliable recovery incurred more costs, especially associated with general practitioner consultations (t = 3.01, df = 132, p = .003), use of emergency departments (t = 2.20, df = 132, p = .030), total health care costs (t = 2.01, df = 132, p = .040), and sick leaves (t = 1.97, df = 132, p = .048). These findings underscore the societal importance of achieving a reliable recovery in patients with emotional disorders, and further support the value of adding TD-CBT to TAU in the primary care setting.

Therapeutic Inertia in the Management of Type 2 Diabetes: A Narrative Review.

Adequate glycemic control is key to prevent morbi-mortality from type 2 diabetes (T2D). Despite the increasing availability of novel, effective, and safe medications for the treatment of T2D, and periodically updated guidelines on its management, the overall rate of glycemic goal attainment remains low (around 50%) and has not improved in the past decade. Therapeutic inertia (TI), defined as the failure to advance or de-intensify medical therapy when appropriate to do so, has been identified as a central contributor to the lack of progress in the rates of HbA1c goal attainment. The time to treatment intensification in patients not meeting glycemic goals has been estimated to be between 1 and 7 years from the time HbA1c exceeded 7%, and often, even when an intervention is carried out, it proves insufficient to achieve glycemic goals, which led to the concept of intensification inertia. Therefore, finding strategies to overcome all forms of TI in the management of T2D is a fundamental initiative, likely to have an enormous impact in health outcomes for people with T2D. There are several factors that have been described in the literature leading to TI, including clinician-related, patient-related, and healthcare system-related factors, which are discussed in this review. Likewise, several interventions addressing TI had been tested, most of them proving limited efficacy. Within the most effective interventions, there appear to be two common factors. First, they involve a team-based effort, including nurses, pharmacists, and diabetes educators. Second, they were built upon a framework based on results of qualitative studies conducted in the same context where they were later implemented, as will be discussed in this article. Given the complex nature of TI, it is crucial to use a research method that allows for an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon. Most of the literature on TI is focused on quantitatively describing its consequences; unfortunately, however, not many study groups have undertaken qualitative studies to deeply investigate the drivers of TI in their diverse contexts. This is particularly true in the United States, where there is an abundance of publications exploring the effects of different strategies to overcome TI in type 2 diabetes, but a severe shortage of qualitative studies aiming to truly understand the phenomenon.

Variables Associated with Emotional Symptom Severity in Primary Care Patients: The Usefulness of a Logistic Regression Equation to Help Clinical Assessment and Treatment Decisions

The aim of this study is to contribute to the evidence regarding variables related to emotional symptom severity and to use them to exemplify the potential usefulness of logistic regression for clinical assessment at primary care, where most of these disorders are treated. Cross-sectional data related to depression and anxiety symptoms, sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life (QoL), and emotion-regulation processes were collected from 1,704 primary care patients. Correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted to identify those variables associated with both depression and anxiety. Participants were then divided into severe and nonsevere emotional symptoms, and binomial logistic regression was used to identify the variables that contributed the most to classify the severity. The final adjusted model included psychological QoL (p < .001, odds ratio [OR] = .426, 95% CI [.318, .569]), negative metacognitions (p < .001, OR = 1.083, 95% CI [1.045, 1.122]), physical QoL (p < .001, OR = .870, 95% CI [.841, .900]), brooding rumination (p < .001, OR = 1.087, 95% CI [1.042, 1.133]), worry (p < .001, OR = 1.047, 95% CI [1.025, 1.070]), and employment status (p = .022, OR [.397, 2.039]) as independent variables, ρ2 = .326, area under the curve (AUC) = .857. Moreover, rumination and psychological QoL emerged as the best predictors to form a simplified equation to determine the emotional symptom severity (ρ2 = .259, AUC = .822). The use of statistical models like this could accelerate the assessment and treatment-decision process, depending less on the subjective point of view of clinicians and optimizing health care resources. (AU)

Variables Associated with Emotional Symptom Severity in Primary Care Patients: The Usefulness of a Logistic Regression Equation to Help Clinical Assessment and Treatment Decisions.

The aim of this study is to contribute to the evidence regarding variables related to emotional symptom severity and to use them to exemplify the potential usefulness of logistic regression for clinical assessment at primary care, where most of these disorders are treated. Cross-sectional data related to depression and anxiety symptoms, sociodemographic characteristics, quality of life (QoL), and emotion-regulation processes were collected from 1,704 primary care patients. Correlation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were conducted to identify those variables associated with both depression and anxiety. Participants were then divided into severe and nonsevere emotional symptoms, and binomial logistic regression was used to identify the variables that contributed the most to classify the severity. The final adjusted model included psychological QoL (p < .001, odds ratio [OR] = .426, 95% CI [.318, .569]), negative metacognitions (p < .001, OR = 1.083, 95% CI [1.045, 1.122]), physical QoL (p < .001, OR = .870, 95% CI [.841, .900]), brooding rumination (p < .001, OR = 1.087, 95% CI [1.042, 1.133]), worry (p < .001, OR = 1.047, 95% CI [1.025, 1.070]), and employment status (p = .022, OR [.397, 2.039]) as independent variables, ρ2 = .326, area under the curve (AUC) = .857. Moreover, rumination and psychological QoL emerged as the best predictors to form a simplified equation to determine the emotional symptom severity (ρ2 = .259, AUC = .822). The use of statistical models like this could accelerate the assessment and treatment-decision process, depending less on the subjective point of view of clinicians and optimizing health care resources.

Worry, rumination and negative metacognitive beliefs as moderators of outcomes of Transdiagnostic group cognitive-behavioural therapy in emotional disorders.

BACKGROUND: Despite the relevance of cognitive processes such as rumination, worry, negative metacognitive beliefs in emotional disorders, the existing literature about how these cognitive processes moderate the effect of treatment in treatment outcomes is limited. The aim of the present study was to explore the potential moderator effect of baseline cognitive processes-worry, rumination and negative metacognitive beliefs-on the relationship between treatment allocation (transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural therapy -TD-CBT plus treatment as usual-TAU vs. TAU alone) and treatment outcomes (anxiety and depressive symptoms, quality of life [QoL], and functioning) in primary care patients with emotional disorders. METHODS: A total of 631 participants completed scales to evaluate worry, rumination, negative metacognitive beliefs, QoL, functioning, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. RESULTS: Worry and rumination acted as moderators on the effect of treatment for anxiety (b = -1.25, p = .003; b = -0.98, p = .048 respectively) and depressive symptoms (b = -1.21, p = .017; b = -1.34, p = .024 respectively). Individuals with higher baseline levels of worry and rumination obtained a greater reduction in emotional symptoms from the addition TD-CBT to TAU. Negative metacognitive beliefs were not a significant moderator of any treatment outcome. LIMITATIONS: The study assesses cognitive processes over a relatively short period of time and uses self-reported instruments. In addition, it only includes individuals with mild or moderate anxiety or depressive disorders, which limits generalization to other populations. CONCLUSIONS: These results underscore the generalization of the TD-CBT to individuals with emotional disorders in primary care with different cognitive profiles, especially those with high levels of worry and rumination.

Neuroprotective effects of meloxicam on transient brain ischemia in rats: the two faces of anti-inflammatory treatments.

The inflammatory response plays an important role in neuroprotection and regeneration after ischemic insult. The use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has been a matter of debate as to whether they have beneficial or detrimental effects. In this context, the effects of the anti-inflammatory agent meloxicam have been scarcely documented after stroke, but its ability to inhibit both cyclooxygenase isoforms (1 and 2) could be a promising strategy to modulate post-ischemic inflammation. This study analyzed the effect of meloxicam in a transient focal cerebral ischemia model in rats, measuring its neuroprotective effect after 48 hours and 7 days of reperfusion and the effects of the treatment on the glial scar and regenerative events such as the generation of new progenitors in the subventricular zone and axonal sprouting at the edge of the damaged area. We show that meloxicam's neuroprotective effects remained after 7 days of reperfusion even if its administration was restricted to the two first days after ischemia. Moreover, meloxicam treatment modulated glial scar reactivity, which matched with an increase in axonal sprouting. However, this treatment decreased the formation of neuronal progenitor cells. This study discusses the dual role of anti-inflammatory treatments after stroke and encourages the careful analysis of both the neuroprotective and the regenerative effects in preclinical studies.

Cost-effectiveness of transdiagnostic group cognitive behavioural therapy versus group relaxation therapy for emotional disorders in primary care (PsicAP-Costs2): Protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

Several randomised controlled trials (RCT) have demonstrated the superiority of transdiagnostic group cognitive-behavioural therapy (TD-CBT) to treatment as usual (TAU) for emotional disorders in primary care. To date, however, no RCTs have been conducted to compare TD-CBT to another active intervention in this setting. Our aim is to conduct a single-blind RCT to compare group TD-CBT plus TAU to progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) plus TAU in adults (age 18 to 65 years) with a suspected emotional disorder. We expect that TD-CBT + TAU will be more cost-effective than TAU + PMR, and that these gains will be maintained at the 12-month follow-up. Seven therapy sessions (1.5 hours each) will be offered over a 24-week period. The study will be carried out at four primary care centres in Cantabria, Spain. The study will take a societal perspective. Psychological assessments will be made at three time points: baseline, post-treatment, and at 12-months. The following variables will be evaluated: clinical symptoms (anxiety, depression, and/or somatic); functioning; quality of life (QoL); cognitive-emotional factors (rumination, worry, attentional and interpretative biases, emotion regulation and meta-cognitive beliefs); and satisfaction with treatment. Data on health service use, medications, and sick days will be obtained from electronic medical records. Primary outcome measures will include: incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) and incremental cost-utility ratios (ICURs). Secondary outcome measures will include: clinical symptoms, QoL, functioning, and treatment satisfaction. Bootstrap sampling will be used to assess uncertainty of the results. Secondary moderation and mediation analyses will be conducted. Two questionnaires will be administered at sessions 1, 4, and 7 to assess therapeutic alliance and group satisfaction. If this trial is successful, widespread application of this cost-effective treatment could greatly improve access to psychological treatment for emotional disorders in the context of increasing demand for mental healthcare in primary care. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: Cost-effectiveness of a Transdiagnostic Psychological Treatment for Emotional Disorders in Primary Care (PsicAP). NCT05314920.

The use of virtual visits for obesity pharmacotherapy in patients with overweight or obesity compared with in-person encounters.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to demonstrate noninferiority using telehealth in treating obesity with phentermine in patients with BMI ≥ 27 kg/m2 with comorbidities or BMI ≥ 30 compared with the standard in-person approach over a 90-day period. METHODS: A 12-week, randomized, prospective, single-center, open label trial compared the use of virtual visits versus in-person visits for the treatment of obesity using phentermine. The primary end point was percentage mean change in body weight from baseline to 12 weeks. A noninferiority approach assuming a 3% noninferiority region was used to assess effect size differences. RESULTS: The weight loss in the virtual visit arm was noninferior to the in-person arm at all time points. At 12 weeks, the mean change in weight was -6.5% among the virtual group and -7.7% among the in-person group. In addition, 65% of virtual patients and 71% of in-person patients demonstrated a weight reduction of at least 5%. There was no difference in medication tolerance, adherence, and compliance. CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the virtual obesity pharmacotherapy visits in adults aged 18 to 65 years prescribed phentermine are effective and noninferior in achieving meaningful weight loss after 12 weeks. Future clinical trials are needed to better assess the effectiveness of televisits for obesity pharmacotherapy.

Anaplastic thyroid tumor as an embolic source of metastasis.

Tumor-based arterial thromboembolism in patients with cancer is a poorly described concept that lacks evidence for surgical indications owing to its unusual occurrence. The study and understanding of this condition's etiology is, however, essential because it could constitute the initial presentation or determine the prognosis of oncologic disease. In the present report, we have described the case of a 77-year-old female patient with multiple cerebral, splenic, and upper limb arterial embolic episodes. Embolectomy for acute upper limb ischemia revealed the histopathologic diagnosis of an anaplastic thyroid tumor.

Voice outcomes in patients with advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer treated with chemo-radiotherapy.

Objective: Patients with locally advanced laryngeal and hypopharyngeal cancer (LHC) are often treated with chemo-radiotherapy to avoid total laryngectomy, although voice problems may occur even if not markedly manifest. We sought to evaluate the impact of chemoradiation on voice and quality of life. Methods: We studied 21 patients with locally advanced LHC with tumour control at least two years after chemo-radiotherapy. None manifested clinical symptoms related to the treatment and maintained an activity considered as within normal limits. All patients had a voice handicap index (VHI) of less than 15. Voice function was evaluated by perceptual vocal analysis (CAPE-V) and aerodynamic and acoustic study. Quality of life was assessed with the EORTC-H&N35 (voice items 46, 53 and 54). Results: Voice changes were frequent, with alterations in all CAPE-V attributes, and predominantly type II and III spectrograms in acoustic analysis (78%). The EORTC-H&N35 scale showed a reduction in scores in 10-40% of items related to voice. Conclusions: Subclinical voice disorders are common after chemo-radiotherapy. Although patients consider vocal impairment to be very minor and to not interfere with their daily life, it may contribute to a reduced quality of life.

Trombectomía mecánica reolítica en urgencia oncológica / Rheolytic mechanical thrombectomy in an oncological emergency

Introducción: la trombosis de las venas hepáticas y de la vena cava inferior puede aparecer hasta en un 10 % de pacientes con tumores intrahepáticos. El fenómeno de tromboembolismo venoso por compresión maligna con o sin sobreinfección presenta mal pronóstico a corto plazo.Caso clínico:paciente de 66 años con historia de colangiocarcinoma tratado mediante resección y nuevo rescate quirúrgico años después por recaída hepática tumoral. En el posoperatorio tuvo un síndrome de Budd-Chiari y una fístula biliar, que se manejaron de forma conservadora. Posteriormente sufrió shock séptico que precisó su ingreso en la Unidad de Cuidados Intensivos. Se realizó angiotomografía computarizada que evidenció un defecto de repleción parcial de la vena cava inferior infra- y supradiafragmática. Se realizó trombectomía mecánica reolítica con dispositivo AngioJet™. Hubo resolución completa de la trombosis sin complicaciones derivadas de la intervención y con remisión tumoral a siete meses del seguimiento.Discusión:la trombectomía reolítica de la vena cava inferior puede ser una alternativa de baja invasividad y segura en pacientes con trombosis de cava de estadio IIIa.(AU)

Introduction: suprahepatic veins and inferior vena cava thrombosis can occur in up to 10 % of patients with intrahepatic tumours. The phenomenon of malignant compression venous thromboembolism with or without added superinfection has a short-term poor prognosis. although there is no gold standard in its management, it has been suggested that thrombectomy can prevent death and major complications.Case report:66-year-old patient with a history of cholangiocarcinoma, treated by resection and a new surgical rescue with chemotherapy and neoadjuvant radiotherapy due to liver tumour relapse. a postoperative complica- tion was registered, due to Budd-Chiari syndrome and a biliary fi stula that were managed conservatively. Weeks later, a septic shock was diagnosed which required admission into Intensive Care Unit. a computed tomography angiography was performed, which showed an almost complete fi lling defect of the infra and supradiaphragmatic inferior vena cava. a rheolytic mechanical thrombectomy with an AngioJet™ device was performed. Complete resolution of the thrombosis without complications derived from the intervention and with tumour remission at six months of subsequent follow-up.Discussion:rheolytic thrombectomy of the inferior vena cava can be a safe and low-invasive alternative in patients with stage IIIa thrombosis.(AU)

Emotion Regulation as a Moderator of Outcomes of Transdiagnostic Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Emotional Disorders.

The aim of this study was to examine the potential moderating effect of baseline emotion regulation skills-cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression-on the relationship between treatment allocation and treatment outcomes in primary care patients with emotional symptoms. A total of 631 participants completed scales to evaluate emotion regulation, anxiety, depression, functioning, and quality of life (QOL). The moderation analysis was carried out using the SPSS PROCESS macro, version 3.5. Expressive suppression was a significant moderator in the relationship between treatment allocation and treatment outcomes in terms of symptoms of anxiety (b = -0.530, p = .026), depression (b = -0.812, p = .004), and QOL (b = 0.156, p = .048). Cognitive reappraisal acted as a moderator only in terms of QOL (b = 0.217, p = .028). The findings of this study show that participants with higher scores of expressive suppression benefited more from the addition of transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioral therapy to treatment as usual (TAU) in terms of anxiety and depressive symptoms, and QOL. Individuals with higher levels of cognitive reappraisal obtained a greater benefit in terms of QOL from the addition of psychological treatment to TAU. These results underscore the relevant role that emotion regulation skills play in the outcomes of psychological therapy for emotional symptoms.

Cost-effectiveness and cost-utility evaluation of individual vs. group transdiagnostic psychological treatment for emotional disorders in primary care (PsicAP-Costs): a multicentre randomized controlled trial protocol.

BACKGROUND: Emotional disorders are common, and they have become more prevalent since the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to a high attendance burden at the specialized level, most emotional disorders in Spain are treated in primary care, where they are usually misdiagnosed and treated using psychotropic drugs. This contributes to perpetuate their illness and increase health care costs. Following the IAPT programme and the transdiagnostic approach, the PsicAP project developed a brief group transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural therapy (tCBT) as a cost-effective alternative. However, it is not suitable for everyone; in some cases, one-on-one sessions may be more effective. The objective of the present study is to compare, in cost-benefit terms, group and individual tCBT with the treatment usually administered in Spanish primary care (TAU). METHODS: A randomized, controlled, multicentre, and single-blinded trial will be performed. Adults with mild to moderate emotional disorders will be recruited and placed in one of three arms: group tCBT, individual tCBT, or TAU. Medical data and outcomes regarding emotional symptoms, disability, quality of life, and emotion regulation biases will be collected at baseline, immediately after treatment, and 6 and 12 months later. The data will be used to calculate incremental cost-effectiveness and cost-utility ratios. DISCUSSION: This trial aims to contribute to clinical practice research. The involvement of psychologists in primary care and the implementation of a stepped-care model for mental disorders are recommended. Group therapy and a transdiagnostic approach may help optimize health system resources and unblock waiting lists so that people can spend less time experiencing mental health problems. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04847310; Protocols.io: bx2npqde. (April 19, 2021).

The mediating role of emotion regulation in transdiagnostic cognitive behavioural therapy for emotional disorders in primary care: Secondary analyses of the PsicAP randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Emotional disorders are highly prevalent in primary care. Transdiagnostic cognitive behavior therapy (TD-CBT) is a promising treatment of emotional disorders. In this study, we evaluated several emotion regulation strategies as potential mediators of treatment outcomes in a clinical sample of primary care. METHODS: A total of 1061 primary care patients were included in a randomized clinical trial comparing treatment-as-usual (TAU) to TD-CBT+TAU. Of these, 631 (TAU=316; TD-CBT+TAU=315) completed the full treatment and all pre- and post-treatment scales to assess symptoms (anxiety, depression, somatization), emotion regulation strategies (worry, rumination, negative metacognition, suppression, cognitive reappraisal), overall functioning, and quality of life (QoL). RESULTS: Treatment and direct effects showed that TD-CBT+TAU was superior to TAU alone. On the multivariate mediation analysis of indirect effects, three maladaptive strategies (worry, rumination and negative metacognition) had significant effects on all emotional symptoms. Suppression was also significant for depression. Rumination and negative metacognition were significant mediators of functioning, while only negative metacognition was significant for QoL. Reappraisal had no effect on any outcome. LIMITATIONS: We focused mainly on maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and only studied one behavioural strategy (suppression) and one adaptive strategy (reappraisal). CONCLUSIONS: Targeting certain maladaptive emotion regulation strategies (worry, rumination, suppression, negative metacognition) as mediators for treatment with TD-CBT could reduce emotional symptoms and improve well-being. Negative metacognition was the most transdiagnostic strategy, whereas an adaptive strategy such as reappraisal was not a mediator. Thus, maladaptive emotion regulation strategies are key mediators in transdiagnostic therapy for emotional disorders in primary care.

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in Spain: From IAPT to PsicAP.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression are very prevalent in primary care, with high rates of chronic cases, comorbidity and lost quality of life, along with huge economic costs. The Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) project, launched in the United Kingdom in 2007, has become an international benchmark for the treatment of common mental disorders. In Spain, Psicofundación developed the PsicAP clinical trial, following the precedent set by the IAPT. METHOD: This study reviews and compares and contrasts the methods, results, and contributions of the IAPT and PsicAP. RESULTS: The IAPT is a project for the pragmatic implementation of evidence-based psychological therapies in primary care. PsicAP is a randomized clinical trial whose results demonstrated that adding a psychological treatment (seven group sessions of transdiagnostic cognitive-behavioural therapy) to treatment-as-usual (TAU) for anxiety and depression in the primary care setting was more effective and cost-effective than TAU alone. The therapeutic gains and the cost-effectiveness were maintained at a 12 months follow-up. Moreover, the percentage of reliably recovered patients was comparable to the numbers from the IAPT. CONCLUSIONS: This brief psychological treatment should be implemented in the Spanish public health system, similar to the precedent set by the IAPT initiative.

Improving Access to Psychological Therapies in Spain: From IAPT to PsicAP / Mejora del Acceso a Terapias Psicológicas en España: de IAPT a PsicAP

Background: Anxiety and depression are very prevalent in primary care,with high rates of chronic cases, comorbidity and lost quality of life,along with huge economic costs. The Improving Access to PsychologicalTherapies (IAPT) project, launched in the United Kingdom in 2007, hasbecome an international benchmark for the treatment of common mentaldisorders. In Spain, Psicofundación developed the PsicAP clinical trial,following the precedent set by the IAPT. Method: This study reviewsand compares and contrasts the methods, results, and contributions ofthe IAPT and PsicAP. Results: The IAPT is a project for the pragmaticimplementation of evidence-based psychological therapies in primarycare. PsicAP is a randomized clinical trial whose results demonstrated thatadding a psychological treatment (seven group sessions of transdiagnosticcognitive-behavioural therapy) to treatment-as-usual (TAU) for anxietyand depression in the primary care setting was more effective and costeffectivethan TAU alone. The therapeutic gains and the cost-effectivenesswere maintained at a 12 months follow-up. Moreover, the percentage ofreliably recovered patients was comparable to the numbers from the IAPT.Conclusions: This brief psychological treatment should be implementedin the Spanish public health system, similar to the precedent set by theIAPT initiative.

Antecedentes: la ansiedad y la depresión son muy prevalentes en atenciónprimaria, tienen altas tasas de cronicidad, comorbilidad y pérdida de calidadde vida, así como altos costes económicos. El proyecto IAPT (Mejora delAcceso a Terapias Psicológicas) que se inició en Reino Unido, supusoun referente internacional en el abordaje de estos trastornos mentalescomunes. En España, Psicofundación promovió el ensayo clínico PsicAP(Psicología en Atención Primaria), siguiendo el camino de IAPT. Método:en este trabajo se revisan el método, resultados y aportaciones de IAPTy PsicAP, detallando sus similitudes y diferencias. Resultados: IAPT esun proyecto de implementación pragmática sanitaria en atención primariade terapias psicológicas basadas en la evidencia. PsicAP es un ensayoclínico aleatorizado cuyos resultados señalan que añadir un tratamientopsicológico (siete sesiones en grupo de tratamiento cognitivo-conductualtransdiagnóstico) al tratamiento habitual para estos trastornos en atenciónprimaria, es más efi caz y costo-efi caz que el tratamiento habitual solo. Estasganancias terapéuticas, así como la relación coste-efi cacia se mantienen alos 12 meses. Además, el número de casos recuperados de manera confi ablees equiparable a los conseguidos en IAPT. Conclusiones: este tratamientopsicológico breve debería ser asumido por la sanidad pública española,siguiendo la iniciativa IAPT.