Trial reportBMJ mental health2025
Do illness beliefs predict uptake of depression treatment after web-based depression screening? A secondary analysis of the DISCOVER RCT.
Trial report in BMJ mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Disease awareness and experience of adolescent depression patients: a meta-synthesis of qualitative studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Pooled it
- Association of depressive symptoms with longitudinal changes in activities of daily living among middle-aged and older Chinese adults with hip fracture: an Andersen Behavioral Model perspective.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundOnly a minority of those with depressive disorder receive treatment. Besides system-level factors, individual factors could account for the gap between detection and treatment of depression in so far unreached but affected populations.
objectiveThis study tests the predictive value of illness beliefs (IB) for the uptake of depression treatment 6 months after web-based depression screening.
methodsThis is a secondary analysis of the randomised controlled Germany-wide DISCOVER trial that investigated the effects of automated results feedback following web-based depression screening in untreated participants with at least moderate depression severity (Patient Health Questionnaire ≥10 points). IB were examined as predictors of depression treatment uptake. Eligible participants were at least 18 years old, reported proficiency in German language, and provided informed consent. IB were assessed at the time of screening (baseline) with an adapted version of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Uptake of depression treatment was operationalised as self-reported initialisation of psychotherapy and/or antidepressant medication 6 months after baseline. Analyses were adjusted for study arm.
findingsData from N=871 participants of the DISCOVER trial providing follow-up data were analysed. IB denoting more consequences (OR (95% CI) 1.12 (1.00 to 1.26)), higher treatment control (OR (95% CI) 1.19 (1.11 to 1.29)) and a depression-conforming illness identity (OR (95% CI) 1.65 (1.15 to 2.36)) were associated with up to 56.8% relative increase in predicted probability of depression treatment uptake 6 months after baseline.
conclusionsResults suggest considerable effects of IB for depression treatment uptake in untreated populations. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: IB could reflect relevant barriers in access to depression care and, concurrently, intervention targets to foster health service utilisation in untreated populations.
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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.