ArticleInternational journal of mental health systems2021
Effect of adding a psychological intervention to routine care of common mental disorders in a specialized mental healthcare facility in Pakistan: a randomized controlled trial.
Article in International journal of mental health systems, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Residual posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms after provision of brief behavioral intervention in low- and middle-income countries: An individual-patient data meta-analysis.Depression and anxiety · 2022Pooled it
- Feasibility and acceptability of the Unified Protocol for anxiety and depression in Pakistan: a pilot randomized controlled trial.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of peer-delivered Problem Management Plus for Immigrants (PMP-I) in reducing stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms among Bhutanese adults resettled in Massachusetts, United States: a pilot randomized controlled trial.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Trial
- Internet-Based Problem Management Plus Intervention for Antenatal Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- A guide to selecting psychological interventions that can be delivered by people who are not mental health specialists in low-resource settings.PLOS global public health · 2025Review
- A scoping review of the literature on the application and usefulness of the Problem Management Plus (PM+) intervention around the world.BJPsych open · 2024Article
- Identifying contextual barriers and facilitators in implementing non-specialist interventions for mental health in Sri Lanka: A qualitative study with mental health workers and community members.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- World Health Organization's low-intensity psychosocial interventions: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of Problem Management Plus and Step-by-Step.World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) · 2023Article
- Advancing Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis and the Treatment of Trauma in Humanitarian Emergencies via Mobile Health: Protocol for a Proof-of-Concept Nonrandomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn many low resource settings, the provision of government mental health care services is limited to specialized psychiatry units in urban hospital care facilities, where the most common treatment for common mental disorders (CMDs) is pharmacotherapy, occasionally with adjunct nonspecific psychological support. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of adding a low intensity, psychological intervention, Problem Management Plus (PM+) for CMDs into routine care in a specialized mental health care facility in Pakistan.
methodsA two arm, single-blind individual randomized controlled trial (RCT) was carried out with adults (N = 192), referred for psychological support by psychiatrists. The study participants were randomized (1:1) to PM + plus Treatment as Usual (TAU) (n = 96) or TAU only (n = 96). The primary outcomes were symptoms of anxiety and depression, measured by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and functional impairment as measured by WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) at 20 weeks after baseline.
resultsThe analysis was done on intention-to-treat principle. The linear mixed model analysis showed that at 20 weeks after baseline, there was a significant reduction in symptoms of anxiety and depression (mean [SD], 16.23 [8.81] vs 19.79 [7.77]; AMD, - 3.10; 95% CI, - 0.26 to - 5.76); p = 0.03 and improvement in functioning (mean [SD], 22.94 [9.37] vs 27.37 [8.36]; AMD, - 4.35; 95% CI, - 1.45 to - 7.24); p = 0.004 in PM + plus TAU versus TAU arm. The follow-up rate was 67% at primary end-point.
conclusionsSpecialized care facilities in LMICs may consider adding brief, evidence-based psychological treatments for CMDs to their routine care. Trial Registration Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry, ACTRN12616000381482. Registered March 23, 2016. Retrospectively registered, https://www.anzctr.org.au/Default.aspx/ ACTRN12616000381482.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.