Practice nurse-led proactive care for chronic depression in primary care: A randomised controlled trial

Background: Management of long-term depression is a significant problem in primary care populations with considerable on-going morbidity, but few studies have focused on this group. Aims: To evaluate whether structured, nurse-led proactive care of patients with chronic depression in primary care improves outcomes. Method: Participants with chronic/recurrent major depression or dysthymia were recruited from 42 UK general practices and randomised to general practitioner (GP) treatment as usual or nurse intervention over 2 years (the ProCEED trial, trial registration: ISRCTN36610074). Results: In total 282 people received the intervention and there were 276 controls. At 24 months there was no significant improvement in Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) score or quality of life (Euroquol-EQ-VAS), but a significant improvement in functional impairment (Work and Social Activity Schedule, WSAS) of 2.5 (95% CI 0.6-4.3, P =0.010) in the intervention group. The impact per practice-nurse intervention session was 70.37 (95% CI 70.68 to 70.07, P=0.017) on the BDI-II score and 70.33 (95% CI 70.55 to 70.10, P =0.004) on the WSAS score, indicating that attending all 10 intervention sessions could lead to a BDI-II score reduction of 3.7 points compared with controls. Conclusions: The intervention improved functioning in these patients, the majority of whom had complex long-term difficulties, but only had a significant impact on depressive symptoms in those engaging with the full intervention.