Trial reportThe British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners1998
A randomized controlled trial and economic evaluation of counselling in primary care.
Trial report in The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1998. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 7 of them syntheses 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Counselling for mental health and psychosocial problems in primary care.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2011Pooled it
- Brief psychological therapies for anxiety and depression in primary care: meta-analysis and meta-regression.BMC medicine · 2010Pooled it
- On-site mental health workers delivering psychological therapy and psychosocial interventions to patients in primary care: effects on the professional practice of primary care providers.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2009Pooled it
- A systematic review of the effect of primary care-based service innovations on quality and patterns of referral to specialist secondary care.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of data on costs from trials of counselling in primary care: using individual patient data to overcome sample size limitations in economic analyses.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2003Pooled it
- The clinical and cost-effectiveness of self-help treatments for anxiety and depressive disorders in primary care: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2001Pooled it
- Systematic review of the effect of on-site mental health professionals on the clinical behaviour of general practitioners.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Pooled it
- Promotoras as mental health practitioners in primary care: a multi-method study of an intervention to address contextual sources of depression.Journal of community health · 2011Trial
- Chronic fatigue in general practice: economic evaluation of counselling versus cognitive behaviour therapy.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2001Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behaviour therapy, and usual general practitioner care for patients with depression. I: clinical effectiveness.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Trial
- Randomised controlled trial of non-directive counselling, cognitive-behaviour therapy, and usual general practitioner care for patients with depression. II: cost effectiveness.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Trial
- The economics of employing a counsellor in general practice: analysis of data from a randomised controlled trial.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2000Trial
- A randomised controlled trial and economic evaluation of a referrals facilitator between primary care and the voluntary sector.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Trial
- Counseling in primary care improves depression and quality of life.Clinical practice and epidemiology in mental health : CP & EMH · 2012Article
- All you need is cognitive behaviour therapy? Critical appraisal of evidence base must be understood and respected.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2002Article
- [Evaluation in the clinic of health-related quality of life: the COOP/WONCA cartoons].Atencion primaria · 2002Article
- Psychiatric referral rates and the influence of on-site mental health workers in general practice.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2002Article
- Effect of on-site mental health professionals. Longer trials are needed.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2000Article
- Should general practitioners refer patients with major depression to counsellors? A review of current published evidence. Nottingham Counselling and Antidepressants in Primary Care (CAPC) Study Group.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1999Review
- Someone to talk to? The role of loneliness as a factor in the frequency of GP consultations.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 1999Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundCounselling in primary care settings remains largely unevaluated. Such evaluation has been strongly recommended.
aimTo determine the relative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of generic counselling and usual general practitioner (GP) care for patients with minor mental health problems.
methodA randomized controlled trial and health economic evaluation were carried out in nine general practices. Access to generic counselling (brief counselling, generally involving up to six 50-minute sessions) was compared with usual GP care. A total of 162 patients aged 16 years and over with diverse mental health problems (excluding phobic conditions and psychoses) were randomized. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale, COOP/WONCA (World Organization of Family Doctors) functional health assessment charts, and the delighted-terrible faces scale were used to assess outcome four months after randomization.
resultsThe two groups were similar at baseline. There were significant improvements in both groups between randomization and follow-up for most outcome measures, but no significant differences between the study arms. The 95% confidence limits were narrow and excluded clinically significant effects. Under various assumptions concerning the cost of secondary care referrals and of counselling time, no clear cost advantage was associated with either intervention.
conclusionsThis pragmatic trial demonstrates no difference in functional or mental health outcome at four months between subjects offered access to counselling and those given usual care by their GP. There is no clear difference in the cost-effectiveness of the two interventions. Purchasers should take account of these findings in allocating resources within primary care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
9624744PMC1410004What 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.