Health | UM scholar makes new findings in treatment of depression

Xiang Yutao

A collaborative research study by a team led by Prof Xiang Yutao from the University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences and a Chinese psychiatric clinical research center has found that measurement-based care (MBC) is more effective than standard treatment in easing the symptoms of patients with major depression and in achieving a complete clinical remission.
According to a press release issued by UM, the concept of measurement-based care (MBC) has been gaining attention by those concerned with the treatment of depression because it allows psychiatrists to individualize treatment decisions for each patient based on the changes of psychopathology and their tolerance toward antidepressants. Several studies have evaluated MBC and found that it could be successfully integrated into clinical practices and improve the health outcomes of patients.
In their study, 120 patients with moderate-to-severe major depression were consecutively randomized to 24 weeks of either MBC or standard treatment. Outcomes were evaluated by raters masked to study protocol and treatment. The study shows that there were significantly more MBC-treated patients that reached a response (86.9 percent vs. 62.7 percent) and remission (73.8 percent vs. 28.8 percent). Similarly, the time of response and remission was significantly shorter with MBC. Study discontinuation, adverse effects, and concomitant medications did not differ between the study groups. The results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of MBC in patients with moderate-to-severe major depression, suggesting that MBC can be incorporated into the clinical care of those with major depression.
Prof Xiang is currently an associate professor at UM’s Faculty of Health Sciences. His research focuses on health service research, mood disorders, and psychopharmacology. Over the past eight years, Prof Xiang has authored or co-authored over 150 papers, which have been published in major international journals, including The Lancet, The American Journal of Psychiatry, The British Journal of Psychiatry, and Sleep.