Cognitive-behavioral therapy for depression among menopausal woman: A randomized controlled trial

CONTEXT: Menopause is associated with high risk of depression among women. Studies have shown that group cognitive behavioral theory (CBT) is safe and effective treatment for depression among menopausal women; however, only limited studies are conducted in India. AIMS: To examine the efficacy of group CBT for depression among menopausal woman. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A randomized, controlled trial design was adopted with longitudinal measurement of outcomes for 6 months. The study was conducted from January 2017 to November 2017 at selected Primary Health Centre (PHC) area, urban Bengaluru. SUBJECT AND METHODS: Participants were 80 women from selected PHC areas, Bengaluru, India. The participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental or control group by computer-generated random numbers. The experimental group received six weekly group CBT sessions. Depression was evaluated for both groups at the baseline and at two follow-up assessments in the 1(st) and 6(th) month. Treatment effects of the group CBT were analyzed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software package (Version 23). RESULTS: The results showed that comparisons of depression scores between the two groups before initiating group CBT were not significant. Statistically significant reduction in depression scores were seen among experimental group compared to control group over the 6-month period. CONCLUSION: This study concluded that group CBT is effective for reducing depression among menopausal woman.