Effectiveness of psychological interventions among community-dwelling older adults with subthreshold depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background: Little is known about the effectiveness of psychological interventions among older adults with subthreshold depression in the community. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the effectiveness of psychological interventions on depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and quality of life.

Methods: We searched five databases from inception to 20th September 2022 and included RCTs that evaluated the effectiveness of psychological interventions among older adults with subthreshold depression in the community. Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were used to calculate the effect sizes of treatment outcomes in the meta-analysis, using RevMan 5.4.1 and Stata 16.0.

Results: This meta-analysis included thirteen RCT studies involving 2079 participants. Psychological interventions could significantly reduce depressive symptoms (post-intervention time: SMD = -0.58, 95 % CI = -0.76 to -0.40; follow-up time: SMD = -0.31, 95 % CI = -0.41 to -0.22) and anxiety symptoms (post-intervention time: SMD = -0.33, 95 % CI = -0.49 to -0.17; follow-up time: SMD = -0.24, 95 % CI = -0.36 to -0.12) and improve quality of life (post-intervention time: SMD = 0.30, 95 % CI = 0.05 to 0.55; follow-up time: SMD = 0.15, 95 % CI = 0.01 to 0.28).

Conclusion: Evidence suggests that psychological interventions could significantly reduce depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms, and improve quality of life among community-dwelling older adults with subthreshold depression.

Keywords: Community; Older adults; Psychological interventions; Subthreshold depression; Systematic review.