Related Experiment Videos
Balancing rigour and relevance in guideline development for depression: the case for comprehensive cohort studies
Michael Barkham1, Glenys Parry
1Centre for Psychological Services Research, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK. m.barkham@sheffield.ac.uk
Purpose:
Clinical guidelines for the treatment of depression have not yet realized their potential for improving the delivery of the psychological therapies within national healthcare systems. Current guidelines emphasize treatment efficacy and issues in service delivery are relatively neglected. Hence, there is a hierarchy of evidence in which randomized efficacy trials are given primacy over naturalistic (i.e. practice-based) data. Such a strategy is inadequate to address important questions about best delivery of safe and acceptable psychological therapies and exacerbates divisions between research and practice communities.
Methods:
Selected narrative review.
Results:
Both randomized controlled trials and practice-based studies have shortcomings that can be ameliorated by the adoption of practical clinical trials embedded within large cohort studies - that is, comprehensive cohort studies.
Conclusions:
Comprehensive cohort studies have the potential to deliver an evidence base which is both rigorous and relevant. This could satisfy the scientific community as well as allowing practitioners and service users to be fully involved and committed to the process of collecting evidence and implementing guidance. We argue this would be a sound foundation upon which to build an evidence base upon which to develop future clinical guidelines for depression.
Related Concept Videos
Types of Biopharmaceutical Studies: Controlled and Non-Controlled Approaches
Non-controlled studies, commonly employed for initial exploration, lack a control group, rendering them susceptible to biases and external influences. In contrast, controlled...
Depression: Overview
Depressive Disorders: Etiology
Biological Factors in Depression
Biological predispositions significantly influence the risk of developing depressive disorders. Genetic studies highlight the role of variations in the serotonin transporter...
Bias in Epidemiological Studies
Study Designs in Epidemiology
Observational studies are those where the researcher does not intervene but rather observes natural variations. They include cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies.
Dosage Regimens: Designs and Approaches