Anxiety, Depression and Somatoform disorders are highly prevalent in primary care. Very often these conditions remain undiscovered and/or untreated. In order to ease this urgent health care problem in the future, the investigators conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial, implementing a tandem working cooperation between a nurse practitioner (Counseling Assistant - CA) and a general practitioner (GP) on-site its own practise. The CA's task is to enhance the patients abilities to engage in a better self-management of their psychological symptoms and complaints, to enhance self-efficacy and empower the patients to tackle problems of daily living.
Anxiety, Depression and Somatoform disorders are highly prevalent in primary care. Very often these conditions remain undiscovered and/or untreated. Managing it is time-consuming and communication-intensive. Furthermore, the management is restraint by the high contact-frequencies in primary care practices in Germany. In order to ease this urgent health care problem in the future, the investigators conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial, implementing a tandem working cooperation between a nurse practitioner (Counseling Assistant - CA) and a general practitioner (GP) on-site its own practise. The CA's task is to enhance the patients abilities to engage in a better self-management of their psychological symptoms and complaints, to enhance self-efficacy and empower the patients to tackle problems of daily living.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Enrollment
364
Depending on their condition, counseling assistants support patients in self-management support, enhancing self-efficacy, reducing psychological symptoms
Depending on the conditions, patients get usual care of their general practitioner
Primary Care Practices
Hamburg, Germany
General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE)
GSE assesses a general sense of perceived self-efficacy. It predicts coping with daily hassles as well as adaptation after experiencing all kinds of stressful life events. http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/%7Ehealth/engscal.htm "The construct of Perceived Self-Efficacy reflects an optimistic self-belief (Schwarzer, 1992). This is the belief that one can perform a novel or difficult tasks, or cope with adversity -- in various domains of human functioning. Perceived self-efficacy facilitates goal-setting, effort investment, persistence in face of barriers and recovery from setbacks. It can be regarded as a positive resistance resource factor. Ten items are designed to tap this construct. Each item refers to successful coping and implies an internal-stable attribution of success. Perceived self-efficacy is an operative construct, i.e., it is related to subsequent behavior and, therefore, is relevant for clinical practice and behavior change."
Time frame: Baseline, 8 Weeks, 12 Months
Change in Symptom Score Patient's Health Questionnaire (German Version)
Reducing the symptoms score in the "Patient's Health Questionnaire (German Version)". Reducing symptom score per scale -2,5 units comparing group mean of the intervention group and the group mean of the control group, power 80%, probability 0,05. Effect size d=0,5.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 Weeks, 12 Months
Health Related Quality of Life
Enhancing the health related quality of life in the patients using EQ-5D http://www.euroqol.org/ EQ-5D (European-Quality-of-Life-5-Dimensions): "Descriptive system of health-related quality of life states consisting of five dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression) each of which can take one of three responses. The responses record three levels of severity (no problems/some or moderate problems/extreme problems) within a particular EQ-5D dimension."
Time frame: Baseline, 8 Weeks, 12 Months
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