Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Treatment-Resistant Depression: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract:

Background: Major Depressive Disorder is a global health issue that affects more than 300 million people worldwide, which is about 4.4% of the global population. Treatment usually consists of a combination of antidepressant medication and therapy. However, approximately 30% of individuals with Major Depressive Disorder experience a Treatment-Resistant Depression (a failure to respond to at least two antidepressants used in a regular dosage and time interval). Our research aims to investigate how effective Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy is for individuals with Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Materials and Methods: We will conduct a thorough search for publications in MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science databases, and ClinicalTrials.gov. Additionally, we will manually review the reference lists of the included studies to find any other potentially relevant studies. There will be no restrictions on language or publication date. The quality of the included studies will be assessed independently using the Jadad scale (Oxford quality scoring system). To assess the certainty of the evidence, we will use the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) methodology. This study aims to determine the effectiveness and tolerability of Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy as an intervention for Treatment-Resistant Depression. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval is not necessary because individual patient data is not being collected. Our objective is to publish the systematic review in an open-access medical journal once the review process is completed. Prospero registration ID: CRD42023411978. Registered on April 07, 2023.