Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27780478›Full record

SynthesisPsychological medicine2017

The efficacy of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and their combination on functioning and quality of life in depression: a meta-analysis.

K Kamenov, C Twomey, M Cabello, A M Prina, J L Ayuso-Mateos

Registry-linked trialOpen access · hybridAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Psychological medicine, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05415306 (An Emoji-based Attention Bias Modification Intervention for Depressive Symptom Severity in Young Adults), which is not on this map. Cited by 78 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
78citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
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.

NCT05415306 naunknown statusnot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

An Emoji-based Attention Bias Modification Intervention for Depressive Symptom Severity in Young Adults

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversiti Tunku Abdul RahmanRan2022 to 2024Enrolled120ConditionsDepressive Symptoms, Mood DisordersArmsAttention Bias Modification, Deep-breathing training, Sham Training
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

78 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 202 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. Observational
  16. Loneliness in Focus: Proposing a Resident Curriculum.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2026
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18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

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

5 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

K KamenovInstituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, CIBERSAM,Madrid,Spain.
C TwomeyFaculty of Social and Human Sciences,University of Southampton,Southampton,UK.
M CabelloInstituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, CIBERSAM,Madrid,Spain.
A M PrinaHealth Service and Population Research Department,Centre for Global Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London,London,UK.
J L Ayuso-MateosInstituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red, CIBERSAM,Madrid,Spain.
Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental · ESInstituto de Salud Carlos III · ESKing's College London · GBUniversity of Southampton · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/K021907/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere is growing recognition of the importance of both functioning and quality of life (QoL) outcomes in the treatment of depressive disorders, but the meta-analytic evidence is scarce. The objective of this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) was to determine the absolute and relative effects of psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy and their combination on functioning and QoL in patients with depression.

methodOne hundred and fifty-three outcome trials involving 29 879 participants with depressive disorders were identified through database searches in Pubmed, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials.

resultsCompared to control conditions, psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy yielded small to moderate effect sizes for functioning and QoL, ranging from g = 0.31 to g = 0.43. When compared directly, initial analysis yielded no evidence that one of them was superior. After adjusting for publication bias, psychotherapy was more efficacious than pharmacotherapy (g = 0.21) for QoL. The combination of psychotherapy and medication performed significantly better for both outcomes compared to each treatment alone yielding small effect sizes (g = 0.32 to g = 0.39). Both interventions improved depression symptom severity more than functioning and QoL.

conclusionDespite the small number of comparative trials for some of the analyses, this study reveals that combined treatment is superior, but psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy alone are also efficacious for improving functioning and QoL. The overall relatively modest effects suggest that future tailoring of therapies could be warranted to better meet the needs of individuals with functioning and QoL problems.

Indexed as

Quality of LifeAntidepressive AgentsCombined Modality TherapyDepressive DisorderHumansOutcome Assessment, Health CarePsychotherapyAntidepressive AgentsDepressionfunctioningmeta-analysispharmacotherapypsychotherapyquality of life

Identifiers

PMID27780478
PMCPMC5244449
OpenAlexW2545008233

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.