Key result
Full nurse training in depression assessment increased appropriate referral rates for patients with depressed mood or anhedonia compared to control.
Why the study?
Does an educational intervention for nurses improve depression assessment and appropriate referral in home health care patients aged >65?
RCT (n=256)
Nurse-randomized
Yes
Does an educational intervention for nurses improve depression assessment and appropriate referral in home health care patients aged >65?
Training home healthcare nurses to assess for depression using OASIS significantly improved appropriate referral rates for depressed older adults.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports nurse training for depression assessment in home health care; extends RCT evidence on improving referrals in older adults.
OBJECTIVES: To determine whether an educational intervention would improve depression assessment and appropriate referral. Secondary analyses tested whether referral led to depression improvement. DESIGN: Training in the Assessment of Depression (TRIAD) was a three-group, nurse-randomized trial. Researchers interviewed randomly selected patients at baseline and 8 weeks. SETTING: Three certified home healthcare agencies in Westchester County, New York. PARTICIPANTS: Fifty-three medical/surgical nurses were randomized within agency to three intervention groups: full, minimal, or control. Research contact with nurses' patients (aged >65; N=477) yielded 256 (53.7%) enrolled subjects, 84 (17.6%) ineligibles, and 120 (25.2%) refusals; 233 of the 256 (87.1%) enrolled patients completed follow-up interviews. INTERVENTION: Nurse training in clinically meaningful use of depression sections of Medicare's mandatory Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS). MEASUREMENTS: Nurse-assessed mood or anhedonia (OASIS) versus research assessments using the Structured Clinical Interview for Axis I Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Disorders (SCID); referrals for mental health evaluation (agency records), and depression severity (24-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale; HDRS). RESULTS: Referral rates for patients with (SCID) depressed mood or anhedonia (n=75) varied according to nurse group: 50.0% full intervention, 18.5% minimal, 21.4% control (P=.047). Rates for nondepressed patients (n=180) did not differ (4.9%, 2.0%, 5.8%, respectively; P=.60). In patients with major or minor depression (n=37), referral was associated with symptom improvement. Change in HDRS was 5 points greater in referred patients than others (P=.04). Concordance between OASIS and SCID did not differ between intervention groups. CONCLUSION: TRIAD showed that training nurses to assess for depression using an approach developed in partnership with home healthcare agencies led to appropriate referral and care for depressed patients.
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Bruce et al. (2007) conducted an RCT in Depression (n=256). Nurse training in depression assessment (OASIS) vs. Minimal training or control was evaluated on Referral rates for patients with depressed mood or anhedonia (p=0.047). Full nurse training in depression assessment increased appropriate referral rates for patients with depressed mood or anhedonia compared to control.
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