AzTrials
AzTrials

Unipolar DepressionTHPP-PNCT02111915

Thinking Healthy Program - Peer Delivered (Pakistan)

A study testing THPP-P and EUC in people with Unipolar Depression, run by University of Liverpool at 1 site in Pakistan.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
Search all trials

Trial summary

The rates of perinatal depression in South Asian women are reported to be amongst the highest in the world, ranging from 18%-30% in urban areas and 28%-36% in rural areas. In addition to its profound impact on women's health, disability and functioning, perinatal depression is associated with poor child health… Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 years and older, women only
Conditions the study is for
Unipolar Depression
What is being tested?
THPP-P and EUC
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
560 participants
Where
1 sitePakistan
Study dates
Oct 2014to Feb 2017
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 years and older
  • Women only
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Depressive disorder (PHQ-9 (>10 score)),
  • In the 3rd trimester of pregnancy,
  • Aged 18 years and over,
  • Intending to reside in the study area for the entire duration of the study.

Who cannot join

  • Mothers requiring immediate inpatient care for any reason (medical or psychiatric),
  • Mothers who do not speak any of the following languages: Urdu, Punjabi, Potohari or English.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Pakistan1 site
  • Human Development Research Foundation

    Islamabad

Other trials in Pakistan

About this study

Official title: Thinking Healthy Program - Peer Delivered in Pakistan

The rates of perinatal depression in South Asian women are reported to be amongst the highest in the world, ranging from 18%-30% in urban areas and 28%-36% in rural areas. In addition to its profound impact on women's health, disability and functioning, perinatal depression is associated with poor child health outcomes such as pre-term birth, infant under-nutrition and stunting. There is robust evidence that perinatal depression can be effectively managed with psychological treatments delivered by non-specialist health care workers. Our previous research conducted in Pakistan led to the development of the Thinking Healthy Program (THP). THP is a psychological treatment delivered by community health workers (CHWs) which more than halved the rate of perinatal depression among mothers and led to significant improvements in child health outcomes. To enhance access to such evidence-based psychological treatments, there is a need to examine the potential role of other human resources such as lay persons in delivering psychological treatments such as THP in poor resource settings.

Read the detailed description

Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of THP delivered by peers (the Thinking Healthy Program - Peer delivered in Rawalpindi, Pakistan; THPP-P) over the duration of 6 months. Peers will be healthy mothers who live in the same community as potential trial participants (TPs).

Study design and outcomes Single-blind stratified cluster randomized controlled trial in Rawalpindi, Pakistan (rural area) involving 40 clusters (560 women). TPs will not be blinded to treatment allocation. TPs include all pregnant women in their third trimester of pregnancy who are identified through the list of their local community health worker (Lady Health Worker or LHW). Those who are eligible will be invited to participate in screening for depression; mothers who consent will be screened for depression with a locally validated version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). TPs who screen positive (PHQ-9 score ≥ 10) receive enhanced usual care (EUC) or THPP+EUC. The primary outcome measures will be remission (i.e. recovery from depression) and reduction in depressive symptoms, both assessed by the PHQ-9 at 6 months post child birth. Secondary outcomes are depressive symptoms and remission at 3 months (PHQ-9), maternal disability at 3 and 6 months post child birth (measured with the WHO-DAS), improved maternal support (measured with MSPSS) at 3 and 6 months post child birth, breastfeeding rates and infant weight and height of children at 3 and 6 months. Outcomes will be analysed on an intention to treat basis.

Interventions EUC will comprise communicating the results to the mother's LHW and medical officer (MO) at the Basic Health Unit (BHU) of her area, providing the MO with the WHO mhGAP guidelines for the treatment of depression, and providing guidance on referral of depressed mothers to mental health services. TPs who are in the THPP group will receive, in addition, 14 sessions of THPP starting from their recruitment in the third trimester until up to 5 months after child birth. Sessions will be delivered by peers on an individual and group basis at a location of convenience to the TPs (usually at their own homes).

Implications THPP has the potential to advance knowledge of the extent to which task-shifting of the delivery of evidence-based psychological treatments can be extended to peers in the community. If effectiveness is observed, this approach offers a potential opportunity to access a vast untapped human resource for maternal mental health care and addresses a major barrier in global mental health - the lack of skilled and motivated human resources in the formal health sector - offering a new avenue for the scaling up of evidence-based psychological treatments in low resourced settings.

Being tested
THPP-P, EUC
Keywords
Maternal depression
Medical subject headings
Depressive Disorder

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • THPP-PBehavioural

    Also called Thinking Healthy Program : Peer Delivered - Pakistan

    Trial participant s who are in the THPP group will receive, in addition to Enhanced Usual Care (EUC), 14 sessions of THPP (simplified cognitive behaviour therapy) starting from their recruitment in the third trimester until up to 5 months after child birth.

  • EUCOther

    Also called Enhanced Usual Care

    EUC will comprise communicating the results to the mother's Lady Health Worker and medical officer (MO) at the Basic Health Unit (BHU) of her area, providing the MO with the WHO mental health gap (mhGAP) guidelines for the treatment of depression, and providing guidance on referral of depressed mothers to mental health services.

Study groups in NCT02111915
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Enhanced Usual Care (EUC)OtherEUC will comprise communicating the results to the mother's Lady Health Worker and medical officer (MO) at the Basic Health Unit (BHU) of her area, providing the MO with the WHO mental health gap (mhGAP) guidelines for the treatment of depression, and providing guidance on referral of depressed mothers to mental health services
Receives: Other: EUC
THPP-PExperimentalTrial participant s who are in the THPP group will receive, in addition to EUC, 14 sessions of THPP (simplified cognitive behaviour therapy) starting from their recruitment in the third trimester until up to 5 months after child birth.
Receives: Behavioral: THPP-P; Other: EUC

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Remission (i.e. recovery from depression)

    Measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire- 9 (PHQ-9)

    Measured: 6 months post child birth

Secondary outcomes (5)
  1. Remission (i.e. recovery from depression)

    Measured with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9)

    Measured: 3 months post child birth

  2. Maternal disability

    Measured with the World Health Organization's Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS)

    Measured: 3 and 6 months post child birth

  3. Maternal support

    Measured with the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS)

    Measured: 3 and 6 months post child birth

  4. Breastfeeding rates

    Measured: 3 and 6 months post child birth

  5. Infant height

    Measured: 3 and 6 months post child birth

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted11 Apr 2014 (estimated)
  2. Study startOct 2014
  3. Primary completionJan 2017
  4. Study completionFeb 2017

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
560 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT02111915
Sponsor's protocol ID
THPP-P MH095687
Other IDs
1U19MH095687-01
Acronym
THPP-P
Status last verified
Dec 2019
First submitted
9 Apr 2014
Last updated
24 Dec 2019
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes

Publications

  • LeMasters K, Bates LM, Chung EO, Gallis JA, Hagaman A, Scherer E, Sikander S, Staley BS, Zalla LC, Zivich PN, Maselko J. Adverse childhood experiences and depression among women in rural Pakistan. BMC Public Health. 2021 Feb 25;21(1):400. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-10409-4.

    PubMed 33632175
  • Vanobberghen F, Weiss HA, Fuhr DC, Sikander S, Afonso E, Ahmad I, Atif N, Bibi A, Bibi T, Bilal S, De Sa A, D'Souza E, Joshi A, Korgaonkar P, Krishna R, Lazarus A, Liaqat R, Sharif M, Weobong B, Zaidi A, Zuliqar S, Patel V, Rahman A. Effectiveness of the Thinking Healthy Programme for perinatal depression delivered through peers: Pooled analysis of two randomized controlled trials in India and Pakistan. J Affect Disord. 2020 Mar 15;265:660-668. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.110. Epub 2019 Nov 23.

    PubMed 32090783
  • LeMasters K, Andrabi N, Zalla L, Hagaman A, Chung EO, Gallis JA, Turner EL, Bhalotra S, Sikander S, Maselko J. Maternal depression in rural Pakistan: the protective associations with cultural postpartum practices. BMC Public Health. 2020 Jan 15;20(1):68. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8176-0.

    PubMed 31941468
  • Scherer E, Hagaman A, Chung E, Rahman A, O'Donnell K, Maselko J. The relationship between responsive caregiving and child outcomes: evidence from direct observations of mother-child dyads in Pakistan. BMC Public Health. 2019 Feb 28;19(1):252. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-6571-1.

    PubMed 30819173
  • Sikander S, Ahmad I, Atif N, Zaidi A, Vanobberghen F, Weiss HA, Nisar A, Tabana H, Ain QU, Bibi A, Bilal S, Bibi T, Liaqat R, Sharif M, Zulfiqar S, Fuhr DC, Price LN, Patel V, Rahman A. Delivering the Thinking Healthy Programme for perinatal depression through volunteer peers: a cluster randomised controlled trial in Pakistan. Lancet Psychiatry. 2019 Feb;6(2):128-139. doi: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30467-X.

    PubMed 30686386
  • Atif N, Krishna RN, Sikander S, Lazarus A, Nisar A, Ahmad I, Raman R, Fuhr DC, Patel V, Rahman A. Mother-to-mother therapy in India and Pakistan: adaptation and feasibility evaluation of the peer-delivered Thinking Healthy Programme. BMC Psychiatry. 2017 Feb 23;17(1):79. doi: 10.1186/s12888-017-1244-z.

    PubMed 28231791
  • Turner EL, Sikander S, Bangash O, Zaidi A, Bates L, Gallis J, Ganga N, O'Donnell K, Rahman A, Maselko J. The effectiveness of the peer delivered Thinking Healthy Plus (THPP+) Programme for maternal depression and child socio-emotional development in Pakistan: study protocol for a three-year cluster randomized controlled trial. Trials. 2016 Sep 8;17(1):442. doi: 10.1186/s13063-016-1530-y.

    PubMed 27608926
  • Sikander S, Lazarus A, Bangash O, Fuhr DC, Weobong B, Krishna RN, Ahmad I, Weiss HA, Price L, Rahman A, Patel V. The effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the peer-delivered Thinking Healthy Programme for perinatal depression in Pakistan and India: the SHARE study protocol for randomised controlled trials. Trials. 2015 Nov 25;16:534. doi: 10.1186/s13063-015-1063-9.

    PubMed 26604001

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing THPP-P and EUC in people with Unipolar Depression, run by University of Liverpool at 1 site in Pakistan.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 2 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Dec 2019. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Pakistan. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Remission (i.e. recovery from depression) (time frame: 6 months post child birth). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT02111915, which also lists 8 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Dec 2019; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 28 Oct 2026.

Free account

Keep searching with a free account

You’ve used your 3 free searches for this session. Log in or create a free AzTrials account to keep searching clinical trials and save the ones you want to follow.

Create a free accountLog in