A study of an Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology has found the programme had significant clinical results for depression and anxiety sufferers. The study sought to investigate the effectiveness of the IAPT programme in a group of patients referred for treatment of depression and/or anxiety under Doncaster Primary Care Trust.

A total of 3,994 patients were referred for treatment during the 12 months from August 2006, and 2,795 went on to receive one or more appointments through a stepped-care collaborative approach from Doncaster PCT. Most of the patients received low-intensity CBT. Their progress was closely monitored and those who needed it were quickly stepped up from low to high-intensity treatment. The clinical levels of depression (measured using the PHQ-9) and anxiety (measured using the GAD-7) of the 2,017 patients who had come to the end of their treatment by the census date, were measured at each contact, and these results were analysed by Professor David Richards of Exeter University.

By the end of the census, 76 per cent of depression sufferers who completed treatment were either in recovery or remission, as were 74 per cent of the anxiety sufferers. For all patients, (including those who dropped out of treatment), these figures were 61 per cent (depression) and 62 per cent (anxiety). The average duration of treatment sessions was just two hours 45 minutes; most patients received low-intensity CBT – the majority of which was carried out over the telephone – however one third of patients also received support for antidepressant medication.

The National Advisor for Primary Care to the IAPT programme, Alan Cohen, said: ‘Following the success of the Doncaster demonstration site, IAPT has gone from strength to strength. This month we expand to 115 IAPT sites around the country with over 2,200 people working in services, including over 800 people who have undertaken the IAPT training programme. Seventy-three thousand patients have entered services, 26,000 of whom have completed treatment, and recovery rates are well over 30 per cent and rising all the time.’

British Psychological Society