Evidence map›Paper›PMID 22303473›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2012

Does a family meetings intervention prevent depression and anxiety in family caregivers of dementia patients? A randomized trial.

Karlijn J Joling, Harm W J van Marwijk, Filip Smit, Henriëtte E van der Horst, Philip Scheltens, Peter M van de Ven, Mary S Mittelman, Hein P J van Hout

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02685787 (Can Early Counseling and Support for Alzheimer's Disease Caregivers Improve Burden? A Multi-centre Active Randomized Clinical Trial in Local Health Services), which is not on this map. Cited by 33 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02685787 naunknown statusnot on this map

Can Early Counseling and Support for Alzheimer's Disease Caregivers Improve Burden? A Multi-centre Active Randomized Clinical Trial in Local Health Services

TypeinterventionalSponsorAzienda Sanitaria Locale N.1 dell'UmbriaRan2012 to 2017Enrolled230ConditionsAlzheimer's DiseaseArmsPsychosocial Intervention, Educational Intervention on AD
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Karlijn J JolingDepartment of General Practice and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. k.joling@vumc.nl
Harm W J van Marwijk
Filip Smit
Henriëtte E van der Horst
Philip Scheltens
Peter M van de Ven
Mary S Mittelman
Hein P J van Hout

Funding

PSYCHOSOCIAL COREP30AG008051 · NIA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI SHAO, YONGZHAO · 1990 to 2019
$36.1M
NIA NIH HHS P30 AG008051
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundFamily caregivers of dementia patients are at increased risk of developing depression or anxiety. A multi-component program designed to mobilize support of family networks demonstrated effectiveness in decreasing depressive symptoms in caregivers. However, the impact of an intervention consisting solely of family meetings on depression and anxiety has not yet been evaluated. This study examines the preventive effects of family meetings for primary caregivers of community-dwelling dementia patients.

methodsA randomized multicenter trial was conducted among 192 primary caregivers of community dwelling dementia patients. Caregivers did not meet the diagnostic criteria for depressive or anxiety disorder at baseline. Participants were randomized to the family meetings intervention (n = 96) or usual care (n = 96) condition. The intervention consisted of two individual sessions and four family meetings which occurred once every 2 to 3 months for a year. Outcome measures after 12 months were the incidence of a clinical depressive or anxiety disorder and change in depressive and anxiety symptoms (primary outcomes), caregiver burden and quality of life (secondary outcomes). Intention-to-treat as well as per protocol analyses were performed.

resultsA substantial number of caregivers (72/192) developed a depressive or anxiety disorder within 12 months. The intervention was not superior to usual care either in reducing the risk of disorder onset (adjusted IRR 0.98; 95% CI 0.69 to 1.38) or in reducing depressive (randomization-by-time interaction coefficient = -1.40; 95% CI -3.91 to 1.10) or anxiety symptoms (randomization-by-time interaction coefficient = -0.55; 95% CI -1.59 to 0.49). The intervention did not reduce caregiver burden or their health related quality of life.

conclusionThis study did not demonstrate preventive effects of family meetings on the mental health of family caregivers. Further research should determine whether this intervention might be more beneficial if provided in a more concentrated dose, when applied for therapeutic purposes or targeted towards subgroups of caregivers.

trial registrationControlled-Trials.com ISRCTN90163486.

Indexed as

CaregiversSocial SupportAgedAnxietyDelivery of Health CareDementiaDemographyDepressionFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleTreatment Outcome

Identifiers

PMID22303473
PMCPMC3267736

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.