Aged Care Division, National Ageing Research Institute, Poplar Road, Parkville, 3052, Australia.
Department of Psychological Sciences, Swinburne University, John Street, Hawthorn, 3122, Australia.
BMC Geriatr. 2021 May 12;21(1):305. doi: 10.1186/s12877-021-02233-7.
This protocol describes an ongoing study of the impact of befriending on depression, anxiety and loneliness in older people living in residential aged care facilities in Australia. While systematic reviews of befriending have indicated positive benefits of befriending for people in a range of ages and settings, there have been no randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of befriending for older people living in residential aged care with depression and no studies of the cost effectiveness of befriending in residential aged care facilities (RACFs) in Australia.
We are conducting a single blind pragmatic RCT comparing two groups of older people living in RACFs, one receiving an intervention consisting of weekly befriending for 4 months from a trained volunteer and the other receiving treatment as usual. Participants undergo eligibility screening for depression (GDS-15 ≥ 4) and cognitive impairment (GPCog ≥ 4) and assessments at three measurement time points: baseline prior to randomisation, 2 months post-baseline and 4 months post-baseline. The primary outcome measure is depression, and secondary outcome measures are anxiety, loneliness, social isolation and quality of life. The economic evaluation will take the form of a cost-utility analysis based on the outcome of quality of life. The primary and secondary outcomes will be analysed using negative binomial and logistic regressions utilizing the Generalised Estimating Equations approach.
To our knowledge, this is the first RCT evaluating the effectiveness of befriending on older people with depression living in residential aged care. It is expected that the befriending intervention will reduce the severity of depression symptoms experienced by older people living in residential aged care. If the intervention proves effective it may be incorporated into volunteer training programs and adopted as a way of supporting older people's mental health.
Trial registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trial Registry (ANZCTR) Number: ACTRN12619000676112 , registered 06/05/2019 - retrospectively registered.
本方案描述了一项正在进行的研究，旨在探讨陪伴对澳大利亚养老院中老年人抑郁、焦虑和孤独感的影响。虽然系统评价表明，陪伴对不同年龄段和不同环境中的人群均有积极影响，但对于居住在养老院中有抑郁症状的老年人，目前尚无陪伴的随机对照试验（RCT），也没有研究陪伴在澳大利亚养老院中的成本效益。
我们正在进行一项单盲实用 RCT 研究，比较两组居住在养老院中的老年人，一组接受由经过培训的志愿者每周进行 4 个月的陪伴干预，另一组接受常规治疗。参与者接受抑郁（GDS-15≥4）和认知障碍（GPCog≥4）的资格筛查，并在三个测量时间点进行评估：随机分组前的基线、基线后 2 个月和基线后 4 个月。主要结局测量指标是抑郁，次要结局测量指标是焦虑、孤独感、社交孤立和生活质量。经济评估将采用基于生活质量结果的成本效用分析。主要和次要结局将使用负二项回归和逻辑回归分析，利用广义估计方程方法进行分析。
据我们所知，这是第一项评估陪伴对居住在养老院中有抑郁症状的老年人有效性的 RCT。预计陪伴干预将减轻居住在养老院中的老年人的抑郁症状严重程度。如果干预措施被证明有效，它可能会被纳入志愿者培训计划，并被采用为支持老年人心理健康的一种方式。
该试验在澳大利亚和新西兰临床试验注册中心（ANZCTR）注册，编号为 ACTRN12619000676112，于 2019 年 5 月 6 日注册-回顾性注册。
