Online Journal of Health & Allied Sciences (Jan 2022)

Treatment Acceptability and Preference for Psychotherapy and Medication in Patients with Common Mental Disorders in an Indian Tertiary Care Setting

  • Rojo Shalom George,
  • Seema Mehrotra,
  • Paulomi M. Sudhir

Journal volume & issue
Vol. 20, no. 4

Abstract

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A significant proportion of the general population suffers from common mental disorders (CMD) and psychological interventions are recognized as the first line of interventions for the same. The present study explored treatment acceptability for medication and psychotherapy in persons with common mental health conditions availing outpatient services in a tertiary care setting in India. The study involved fifty participants with CMDs who were administered the Treatment Acceptability and Preference measure for psychotherapy and medication and asked to indicate their preference for psychotherapy, medication or combined treatment. Psychotherapy was seen to be more effective, appropriate, having less risks of side effects, more convenient, associated with greater willingness and had greater overall acceptability than medications. Roughly half of the participants preferred either psychotherapy alone or a combination treatment. The findings highlighted that, patients with CMDs seeking treatment in an Indian tertiary care setting rated psychotherapy as higher on acceptability than medication and indicated a preference for psychotherapy, either as a stand-alone treatment or in combination with medication.

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