Feasibility and acceptability of group music therapy vs wait-list control for treatment of patients with long-term depression (the SYNCHRONY trial): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

BackgroundDepression is of significant global concern. Despite a range of effective treatment options it is estimated that around one in five diagnosed with an acute depressive episode continue to experience enduring symptoms for more than 2 years. There is evidence for effectiveness of individual music therapy for depression. However, no studies have as yet looked at a group intervention within an NHS context. This study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of group music therapy for patients with long-term depression (symptom durations of 1 year or longer) within the community.MethodsThis is a single-centre randomised controlled feasibility trial of group music therapy versus wait-list control with a nested process evaluation. Thirty participants will be randomised with unbalanced allocation (20 to receive the intervention immediately, 10 as wait-list controls). Group music therapy will be offered three times per week in a community centre with a focus on songwriting. Data will be collected post-intervention, 3 and 6 months after the intervention finishes. We will examine the feasibility of recruitment processes including identifying the number of eligible participants, participation and retention rates and the intervention in terms of testing components, measuring adherence and estimation of the likely intervention effect. A nested process evaluation will consist of treatment fidelity analysis, exploratory analysis of process measures and end-of-participation interviews with participants and referring staff.DiscussionWhilst group music therapy is an option in some community mental health settings, this will be the first study to examine group music therapy for this particular patient group. We will assess symptoms of depression, acceptability of the intervention and quality of life. We anticipate potential challenges in the recruitment and retention of participants. It is unclear whether offering the intervention three times per week will be acceptable to participants, particularly given participants’ enduring symptoms and impact upon motivation. This study will provide data to inform both development of the intervention and to assess and inform the design of a full trial.Trial registrationISRCTN.com, ISRCTN18164037. Registered on 26 September 2016.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13063-017-1893-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Why do psychiatric patients attend or not attend treatment groups in the community: A qualitative study

“…This study purposively selected qualitative interview data collected as part of three different studies that had investigated group treatment; A trial on Body Psychotherapy (BPT)[19–20], an observational study on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)[21] and a feasibility trial on Music Therapy (MT) [22].…”

“…The third study was designed to develop best practice guidelines and examine the feasibility of a randomised controlled trial in group MT using songwriting with patients with long-term depression [22]. In preparation for the trial, individual semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients who had a diagnosis of depression.…”

“…Descriptions of ethical approvals and data collection procedures can be found in the original publications of these studies [19][21][22].…”

Understanding the present, re-visioning the future: An initial mapping of music therapists in the United Kingdom

“…To facilitate such composite representation, future studies may need to align their questions and methods to some extent. In this spirit, we have made the questionnaire used in this study freely available online (Carr et al, 2017). We suggest that both professional bodies of individual countries and international bodies explore these possibilities to facilitate comparison across countries, music therapy contexts and practices.…”

“…This picture is strongly linked to the growing research activity within the country where an increasing number of doctoral research projects, research initiatives funded by the National Institute for Health Research (e.g. Carr, Odell-Miller & Priebe, 2013;Carr, O'Kelly, Sandford & Priebe, 2017;Geretsegger, Holck & Gold, 2012), international collaborations (e.g. Stige, Ansdell, Elefant & Pavlicevic, 2010) and consortiums (e.g.…”