Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34274792›Full record

ArticleJournal of affective disorders2021

Older adults respond better to psychological therapy than working-age adults: evidence from a large sample of mental health service attendees.

Rob Saunders, Joshua E J Buckman, Joshua Stott, Judy Leibowitz, Elisa Aguirre, Amber John, Glyn Lewis, John Cape, Stephen Pilling, NCEL network

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

Article in Journal of affective disorders, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05963581 (Investigating the Effects of Social Movement on Mood and Social and Emotional Functioning in Young People Experiencing Low Mood), which is not on this map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
11.4field-weighted citation impact, top 1% 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.

NCT05963581 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2023, after this paper: background citation

Investigating the Effects of Social Movement on Mood and Social and Emotional Functioning in Young People Experiencing Low Mood

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of OxfordRan2023 to 2024Enrolled121ConditionsDepression, Low Mood, Depressive Disorder, Mood DisordersArmsSalsa Dancing
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 73 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
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  7. Observational
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  9. Long-term Physical and Mental Health Outcomes of Older Adults Following a Major Burn Injury: A Burn Model System Investigation.Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association · 2025
    Article
  10. Article
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  12. Effectiveness of psychological therapies for depression and anxiety in atypical dementia.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024
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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

10 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Rob SaundersCentre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK. Electronic address: r.saunders@ucl.ac.uk.
Joshua E J BuckmanCentre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK; iCope - Camden and Islington Psychological Therapies Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Joshua StottADAPT lab, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
Judy LeibowitziCope - Camden and Islington Psychological Therapies Services, Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Elisa AguirreNorth East London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Amber JohnADAPT lab, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
Glyn LewisDivision of Psychiatry, University College London, London, W1T 7NF, UK.
John CapeCentre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK.
Stephen PillingCentre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness, Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, Gower Street, London, UK; Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust, St Pancras Hospital, 4 St Pancras Way, London, UK.
NCEL network
University College London · GBCamden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust · GBHealth Economics and Outcomes Research (United Kingdom) · GBNorth East London NHS Foundation Trust · GBSt Pancras Hospital · GB

Funding

Department of HealthWellcome Trust 201292/Z/16/Z
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundOlder adults commonly experience depression and anxiety, yet are under-represented in psychological treatment services. There is uncertainty about the outcomes from psychological therapies for older adults relative to working-age adults. This study explored: pre-treatment differences between older and working-age patients with depression or anxiety disorders; whether outcomes from psychological therapy differ between groups controlling for pre-treatment clinical severity, functioning, and socio-demographics; and whether the impact of a long-term health condition (LTC) on outcome differs by age.

methodsData on >100,000 patients treated with psychological therapies in eight Improving Access to Psychological Therapies services were analyzed. We compared pre-treatment characteristics and therapy outcomes for older (≥65 years) and working-age (18-64 years) patients, and investigated associations between age and outcomes.

resultsOlder adults had less severe clinical presentations pre-treatment. In adjusted models older adults were more likely to reliably recover (OR=1.33(95%CI=1.24-1.43)), reliably improve (OR=1.34(95%CI =1.24-1.45)), and attrition was less likely (OR=0.48(95%CI =0.43-0.53)). Effects were more pronounced in patients with anxiety disorders compared to depression. Having an LTC was associated with a much lower likelihood of reliable recovery for working-age patients but had only a modest effect for older adults. LIMITATIONS: There are potential selection biases affecting the characteristics of older people attending these services. Residual confounding cannot be ruled out due to limits on data available.

conclusionsOlder adults experienced better outcomes from psychological treatments than working-age adults. Given the deleterious effects if mental health conditions go untreated, increasing access to psychological therapies for older people should be an international priority.

Indexed as

Mental Health ServicesPsychotherapyAdolescentAdultAgedAnxietyAnxiety DisordersDepressionHumansMiddle AgedYoung AdultAnxiety disordersCommunity mental health servicesDepressive disorderGeriatric psychiatryPsychological therapyPsychotherapy outcome research

Identifiers

PMID34274792
PMCPMC8411661
OpenAlexW3180706094

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.