PRoMPT study

The BMBF study PRoMPT (PRimary care Monitoring for depressive Patients Trial) developed and investigated a GP practice-based case management for patients with major depression. The general practitioner is often the first point of contact for depressed patients, but long-term treatment poses challenges in the day-to-day practice of general practitioners.

After special training, the MFAs of the GP practices contact the patient at regular intervals to find out about their current situation using a symptom checklist. In this way, the GP receives immediate feedback on any worsening of the disease and can promptly initiate all necessary steps.

The study design was a cluster randomised controlled trial in which the control group was treated according to routine care. The three-year study showed significant improvement in depressive symptoms with this cost-effective intervetion. The results were published in AIM 2009 and BJPsych 2013.

• Krauth C, Stahmeyer JT, Petersen JJ, Freytag A, Gerlach FM, Gensichen J. Resource utilisation and costs of depressive patients in Germany: results from the primary care monitoring for depressive patients trial. Depress Res Treat. 2014;2014:730891. doi: 10.1155/2014/730891. Epub 2014 Sep 9.
  
• Gensichen J, Petersen JJ, Von Korff M, Heider D, Baron S, König J, Freytag A, Krauth C, Gerlach FM, König HH. Cost-effectiveness of depression case management in small practices. Br J Psychiatry. 2013 Jun;202:441-6. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.112.118257. Epub 2013 Apr 11.
  
• Gensichen J, von Korff M, Peitz M, Muth C, Beyer M, Güthlin C, Torge M, Petersen JJ, Rosemann T, König J, Gerlach FM; PRoMPT (PRimary care Monitoring for depressive Patients Trial). Case management for depression by health care assistants in small primary care practices: a cluster randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2009 Sep 15;151(6):369-78. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-151-6-200909150-00001.
  
• Gensichen J, Torge M, Peitz M, Wendt-Hermainski H, Beyer M, Rosemann T, Krauth C, Raspe H, Aldenhoff JB, Gerlach FM. Case management for the treatment of patients with major depression in general practices--rationale, design and conduct of a cluster randomized controlled trial--PRoMPT (PRimary care Monitoring for depressive Patient's Trial) [ISRCTN66386086]--study protocol. BMC Public Health. 2005 Oct 5;5:101. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-5-101.