PRISM-E: comparison of integrated care and enhanced specialty referral models in depression outcomes

This study, entitled Primary Care Research in Substance Abuse and Mental Health for the Elderly, examined six-month outcomes for older primary care patients with depression who received different models of treatment.

Clinical outcomes were compared for patients who were randomly assigned to integrated care or enhanced specialty referral. Integrated care consisted of mental health services co-located in primary care in collaboration with primary care physicians. Enhanced specialty referral consisted of referral to physically separate, clearly identified mental health or substance abuse clinics.

A total of 1,531 patients were included; their mean age was 73.9 years. Remission rates and symptom reduction for all depressive disorders were similar for the two models at the three- and six-month follow-ups. For the subgroup with major depression, the enhanced specialty referral model was associated with a greater reduction in depression severity than integrated care, but rates of remission and change in function did not differ across models of care for major depression.

Six-month outcomes were comparable for the two models. For the subgroup with major depression, reduction in symptom severity was superior for those randomly assigned to the enhanced specialty referral group.