Patient Preference for Psychological vs. Pharmacological Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: A Meta-Analytic Review

By R. McHugh, S. Whitton, A. Peckham, J. Welge, M. Otto. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2013

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Objective Models of evidence-based practice emphasize the consideration of treatment efficacy/effectiveness, clinical expertise, and patient preference in treatment selection and implementation. However, patient preference for psychiatric treatment has been understudied. The aim of this meta-analytic review was to provide an estimate of the proportion of patients preferring psychological treatment relative to medication for psychiatric disorders. Data Sources A literature search was conducted using PubMed, PsycINFO, and the Cochrane Collaboration Library through August, 2011 for studies written in English that assessed patient preferences for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Study Selection Studies assessing the preferred type of treatment including at least one psychological treatment and one pharmacological treatment were included. Of the 641 articles initially identified, 34 met criteria for inclusion. Data Extraction Authors extracted relevant data including the proportion of participants reporting preference for psychological and pharmacological treatment. Results Across studies, the proportion preferring psychological treatment was 0.75 (95% CI: 0.69 to 0.80), which was significantly higher than equivalent preference (i.e., higher than 0.50, p < .001). Sensitivity analyses suggested that younger patients (p < .05) and women (p < .01) were significantly more like to choose psychological treatment. A preference for psychological treatment was consistently evident in both treatment-seeking and unselected samples (ps < .05), but was somewhat stronger for the unselected samples. Conclusions Aggregation of patient preferences across diverse settings yielded a significant three-fold preference for psychological treatment relative to medication. Given the similar efficacy of these treatments for depression and anxiety, improving access to evidence-based psychological treatment is needed to connect more patients to their preferred treatment.

Subfields: General Health Professions, Psychiatry and Mental health, Philosophy

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8052810e70da0086fd9f5f9b5fdc816139014498