Time-limited transdiagnostic CBT pre-post analysis v.1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pre-post study analysis into a time-limited transdiagnostic CBT intervention with patients in a GP surgery v.1
IRAS ID
187918
Contact name
Louise Isham
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Oxford
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
15/NW/0988, Lancaster
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 7 months, 23 days
Research summary
Currently, the NICE endorsed Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service treats patients using evidence-based, protocol-driven treatments that have been developed for specific, single diagnoses. In mental health, however, 40-80% of the population with diagnosable conditions present with comorbid conditions (Kessler RC, et al 2005), meaning, specific treatments targeting a single diagnosis may not be the most cost-effective procedure (Mansell 2009).
As has been the case since the 1980s, counselling, with many different rationales as its basis, is used in doctors’ surgeries (Corney, 1990). In 2001, it was found that 76 % of patients being referred for counselling met the threshold for the mental health condition being clinically significant.
The rationale behind this study is to work with patients in a GP surgery, within the 6-week timeframe which is typically allocated to counselling across many GPs’ surgeries. Rather than using single diagnosis CBT protocols, transdiagnostic CBT will be used this proposes an alternative and potentially complementary view to the disorder-specific approach which is more relevant to comorbid patients.
The transdiagnostic approach hypothesises that certain cognitive and behavioural processes, employed to manage threat are shared across a wide range of psychological disorders, (McEvoy, Nathan, Norton,2009). For example:
Self-focused attention
avoidance
thought suppression
safety seeking behaviour
rumination
(Mansell, Harvey Watkins and Shaffran, 2009)
Therefore, rather than treating the presentation of a single disorder, for example OCD or social phobia, tCBT attends to common constructs or maintaining mechanisms. Treatments addressing the commonalities may demonstrate greater efficiency and effectiveness in treating co-occurring disorders rather than the diagnosis-specific approaches (McEvoy & Nathan, 2007)Although in its relative infancy, the delivery of a transdiagnostic approach to patients with co-occurring symptoms shows great promise, (Mansell, W. Harvey, A. Watkins, E . Shafran, R, 2009). In this study, the transdiagnostic approach for individual therapy, in a primary care setting using a 6 week model will be investigated. Using a pre-post study analysis, the efficacy of the treatment proposed will be tested
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NW/0988
Date of REC Opinion
26 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion