NUR 560 RESEARCH DESIGN Sample Paper
Selected Topic and Significance
One of the most significant mental health challenges in contemporary times is a major depressive disorder. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) estimates that at least 17.3 million adults across the US have encountered at least one episode of major depressive disorder. The prevalence of the major depressive disorder is also higher among females compared to males, with an 8.7% prevalence compared to 5.3% (Hasin et al., 2018). As a result of the rising prevalence of major depressive disorder across the US, there is a need for adequate interventions among depression patients. There are two major approaches to treating depression among adult patients. These include administering different forms of medications to manage depression which are referred to as pharmacological interventions (Voelker et al., 2021). On the other hand, the treatment of a mental health disorder can involve the use of counseling and therapy such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) (Voelker et al., 2021). Over the years, scholars have presented a wide range of information either in support or in opposition to pharmacologic and nonpharmacological treatments of major depressive disorder. Pharmacological treatments for depression have been associated with shortcomings such as adverse side effects among patients and even lack of efficacy. On the other hand, nonpharmacological treatments have mainly been associated with a slow rate of progress in improvement among the patients (Voelker et al., 2021). However, some scholars have argued that nonpharmacological interventions to treat a major depressive disorder, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, are more sustainable.
PICOT Question
My PICOT question will be among adults with major depressive disorder (P) what is the effectiveness of nonpharmacological treatments (I) compared to pharmacological treatments (C) in relieving the symptoms of depression (O) in a period of six months (T)?
References
- Hasin, D. S., Sarvet, A. L., Meyers, J. L., Saha, T. D., Ruan, W. J., Stohl, M., & Grant, B. F. (2018). Epidemiology of Adult DSM-5 Major Depressive Disorder and Its Specifiers in the United States. JAMA Psychiatry, 75(4), 336. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2017.4602
- Voelker, J., Kuvadia, H., Cai, Q., Wang, K., Daly, E., Pesa, J., Connolly, N., Sheehan, J. J., & Wilkinson, S. T. (2021). United States national trends in prevalence of major depressive episode and co-occurring suicidal ideation and treatment resistance among adults. Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, 5, 100172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2021.100172
