Psychological medicine
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Psychological medicine · Oct 2012
Randomized Controlled TrialImplementing a minimal intervention for chronic fatigue syndrome in a mental health centre: a randomized controlled trial.
Cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) for chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is an effective but intensive treatment, requiring trained therapists. A minimal intervention based on CBT for CFS, guided self-instruction, was shown to be an effective treatment when delivered in a tertiary treatment centre. Implementing this intervention in a community-based mental health centre (MHC) will increase the treatment capacity for CFS patients. This study evaluated the effectiveness of guided self-instruction for CFS implemented in an MHC, delivered by nurses. ⋯ Implementation of guided self-instruction in a community-based MHC was partially successful. The minimal intervention can be effectively implemented for CFS patients with physical impairments.
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Psychological medicine · Oct 2012
Is there a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and cognitive ability in older people? A prospective study using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Cross-sectional surveys of older people commonly find associations between higher levels of depressive symptoms and poorer cognitive performance, but the direction of effect is unclear. We examined whether there was a bidirectional relationship between depressive symptoms and general cognitive ability in non-demented older people, and explored the role of physical health, smoking, exercise, social class and education as potential confounders of this association and as possible determinants of the rate of change of cognitive decline and depressive symptoms. ⋯ In this longitudinal study of older people, there was no consistent evidence that being more depressed led to an acceleration in cognitive decline and no support for the hypothesis that there might be reciprocal dynamic influences between cognitive ability and depressive symptoms.