{Reference Type}: Journal Article {Title}: Effects of a culturally adapted counselling service for low-income ethnic minorities experiencing mental distress: a pragmatic randomised clinical trial. {Author}: Suen YN;Chen EYH;Wong YC;Ng W;Patwardhan S;Cheung C;Hui CLM;Wong SMY;Wong MTH;Mahtani S; {Journal}: BMJ Ment Health {Volume}: 26 {Issue}: 1 {Year}: 2023 Aug 暂无{DOI}: 10.1136/bmjment-2023-300788 {Abstract}: BACKGROUND: Culturally competent early mental health interventions for ethnic minorities (EMs) with no formal diagnoses are needed.
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether 8-12 weeks culturally adapted counselling (CAC) is better than waiting (waitlist (WL) group) to reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms and stress levels among EMs with elevated mental distress.
METHODS: Hong Kong EMs with mild and above-mild mental distress were randomly assigned to CAC or WL in this pragmatic, randomised, WL-controlled trial. The CAC group received the intervention after randomisation and the WL group received the intervention after 8-12 weeks (T1). The prespecified primary outcomes were depressive and anxiety symptoms and stress levels measured by the Depression, Anxiety and Stress subscales of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-D, DASS-A and DASS-S, respectively) at postintervention (T1, 8-12 weeks).
RESULTS: A total of 120 participants were randomly assigned to either CAC (n=60) or WL (n=60), of whom 110 provided primary outcome data. At T1, CAC led to significantly lower depressive and anxiety symptom severity and stress levels compared with waiting, with unstandardised regression coefficients of -8.91 DASS-D points (95% CI -12.57 to -5.25; d=-0.90),-6.33 DASS-A points (95% CI -9.81 to -2.86; d=-0.68) and -8.60 DASS-S points (95% CI -12.14 to -5.06; d=-0.90).
CONCLUSIONS: CAC clinically outperformed WL for mild and above-mild levels of mental distress in EMs.
CONCLUSIONS: Making CAC routinely available for EMs in community settings can reduce healthcare burden.
BACKGROUND: NCT04811170.