Interventions for treating depression in Muslim Patients: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND

Religious belief is an important determinant of mental health, depression is the mental illness responsible for the largest disease burden globally, and Islam is the fastest growing world religion. Here we systematically review the literature on the engagement of Muslim patients in the treatment of depression.

METHOD

A search of electronic databases, including non-traditional sources, was conducted and content experts were contacted in order to identify qualitative studies, quantitative studies and opinion pieces. A standardised data extraction pro forma and thematic analysis were applied to included studies.

RESULTS

25 studies met the inclusion criteria. Muslims hold many beliefs about depression relevant to its treatment. Advice about how to identify and respond to such beliefs was contradictory and rarely based upon research evidence. The literature is generally of poor quality and rarely distinguishes between religion and culture.

LIMITATIONS

Many studies do not distinguish between beliefs and values that are religious and those that are cultural. The majority of papers identified are English language, suggesting that literature from predominantly Muslim countries is underrepresented, despite our strategy of searching for literature from all relevant countries.

CONCLUSION

Much of the evidence identified by this review is methodologically weak or includes assertions made without qualification. This evidence provides important perspectives, but should be interpreted with caution. High-quality research is needed to improve our understanding of the treatment of depression in Muslim clients, to determine how existing therapies can be modified to meet the needs of Muslim clients, and to evaluate the effectiveness of such modified therapies.