PROMDEP
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Feasibility study for a randomised controlled trial of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) in the assessment and follow-up monitoring of patients with depression in primary care.
IRAS ID
156833
Contact name
Anthony Kendrick
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Research summary
This study looks at whether giving individualised personal feedback to
people being treated for depression can help them get better more quickly.
This is consistent with a general trend towards involving people more in
their own care, through the use of patient reported outcome measures
(PROMs) which involve patients assessing their own symptoms, daily
functioning, and quality of life and feeding back to the professionals
involved in their care. Benefit has been shown from the use of PROMs in
specialist psychological and psychiatric practice, but this approach has not
been researched in UK general practice yet.
This feasibility study will try out the recruitment of six patients undergoing
treatment for depression in each of eight general practices over 12 months
and assess whether patients, general practitioners, and practice nurses
are willing to take part in such a study. It will test out whether PROMs,
including questionnaires for symptoms of depression, daily functioning,
quality of life, and problems particular to the individual patient, are
acceptable to patients and to their general practitioners and practice
nurses.
If using PROMs is beneficial then their use is likely to be very cost-effective
given their low cost, and the benefits at a population level would be
considerable given how common, disabling and long-lasting depression
can be. The NHS would save money spent on unnecessary antidepressant
prescriptions and referrals for psychological (talking) treatments for people
with less severe depression, and the nation would also benefit from the
earlier recovery of people with more severe depression, reducing the
amounts paid to them in sickness benefits and gaining financially from their
earlier return to work. Most importantly, people with depression would be
assessed better, and be helped to recover from their illness more quickly.REC name
South Central - Oxford A Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
14/SC/1067
Date of REC Opinion
28 Jul 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion