Optimization of Pharmacotherapy through Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in Ambulatory Patients Attending Mental Health Clinic in the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital, Uyo, Nigeria

Background: Pharmacotherapy is the most frequently prescribed form of treatment for depression, but usually ineffective due to frequent relapses. The study aimed at speeding up recovery time of depression through the combination of Pharmacotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Method: This study is a cohort study. Simple sampling was used to assign participants into the experimental and control groups respectively. A 16 sessions of CBT was carried out during the 4- month period of clinical research while Cognitive Structuring and Journaling were used. Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used for collating data at baseline, at two and four-month post baseline. The results were analyzed by using SPSS version 26 software while p-value was considered significant at < 0.05. Results: The results of the experimental group at baseline showed that 34 (54.8%) of the study participants were found in the minimum depression category (0 - 13) symptom scores. At 2 months, 50 (80.6%) participants were found in the minimum depression category (0 - 13) symptom scores and at 4 months, 62 (100%) participants were found in the minimum depression category (0 - 13) symptom scores. Sixteen study participants in the experimental group were recovered from the moderate depression category to the minimum depression category at two months of intervention and additional twelve study participants were recovered at four months of intervention. The BDI mean symptom scores of study participants in the experimental groups showed that study participants at baseline (15.79 ± 8.68) and 2-month follow-up (8.90 ± 6.63) had reduced BDI symptom scores at 4-month follow-up (4.53 ± 3.35) with a significant variation (p < 0.001) from that of the control group (21.00 ± 9.59). This study observed significant improvement in the BDI symptom scores when psychotherapy was combined with pharmacotherapy in the management of depression. Conclusion: The study indicated that at 4-month follow-up, study participants receiving CBT and pharmacotherapy had BDI symptom scores (4.53 ± 3.35) that varied significantly (p < 0.001) with the study participants on only pharmacotherapy BDI symptom scores (21.00 ± 9.59).