Effectiveness of body-mind-spirit intervention on well-being, functional impairment and quality of life among depressive patients - a randomized controlled trial

Aim: The aim of the study was to examine the efficacy of body-mind-spirit Intervention in improving the outcomes (well-being, quality of life and functional impairment) among depressive patients.

Background: Depressive disorders lead to significant dysfunction, disability and poor quality of life among sufferers. Body-mind-spirit intervention has been associated with improvements in the outcomes; however, few studies have examined this among depressive patients.

Design: True experimental pre-post equivalent groups design was adopted with longitudinal measurement of outcomes.

Methods: Participants were 120 adult depressive patients visiting the psychiatric outpatient department in a District Hospital in India. The participants were randomly assigned to either the body-mind-spirit group or the treatment-as-usual group between July 2011-January 2013. The treatment-as-usual group (n = 64) received only routine treatment (antidepressants and structured psycho-education) in the hospital. The body-mind-spirit group (n = 56) received four weekly body-mind-spirit group sessions in addition to the routine treatment. Outcome measures on depression, well-being, functional impairment and quality of life were evaluated for both groups at baseline and at four follow-up assessments in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th month. Treatment effects of the body-mind-spirit intervention were analysed by repeated-measures analysis of covariance.

Findings: Compared with the treatment-as-usual group, the body-mind-spirit group showed significant reduction in depression and functional impairment, and significant improvement in the well-being and quality of life scores over the 6-month study period.

Conclusion: The present findings provided evidence for the effectiveness of integrating a complementary therapy such as the body-mind-spirit intervention with conventional treatment in improving prospective outcomes among the depressive patients.