{"title":"The Efficacy of Bibliotherapy in Depression Management: A\u0000Systematic Review of Randomized Clinical Trials","authors":"A. Pannu, Ramesh K. Goyal, Kalicharan Sharma","doi":"10.2174/0126660822317882240719053530","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2174/0126660822317882240719053530","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000\u0000\u0000 Aim: This systematic review critically evaluates the efficacy of bibliotherapy in\u0000addressing mental health concerns across various populations and intervention modalities.\u0000\u0000\u0000Methods: A comprehensive bibliographic search was conducted, identifying 20 articles\u0000from databases PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, representing studies published in\u0000English between 1990 and 2022. The selected randomized clinical trials were subjected to\u0000rigorous evaluation using Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool to assess methodological quality.\u0000Inclusion criteria focused on RCTs examining bibliotherapy programs for depression\u0000treatment. The selected studies were analyzed based on their comparison of bibliotherapy\u0000outcomes with standard treatments or no intervention. Follow-up periods ranging from 2\u0000weeks to 3 years were considered.\u0000\u0000\u0000Results: Out of 413 retrieved results, 20 articles were included, reporting 3354 subjects.\u0000The methodological quality of the studies, assessed using Cochrane's Risk of Bias tool,\u0000was found to be sound. Bibliotherapy demonstrated significant improvements in depressive symptoms in older patients as studied in 3 long-term bibliotherapy RCTs and 7 shortterm bibliotherapy RCTs. In young patients, 3 long-term bibliotherapy RCTs have shown\u0000significant improvement in depressive symptoms over 6 months to 2 years, whereas 7\u0000short-term bibliotherapy RCTs also showed significant improvement within a brief\u0000timeframe. The review explores bibliotherapy's efficacy in managing occupational stress\u0000and its potential as a therapy for depression in populations with chronic physical illnesses.\u0000\u0000\u0000Conclusion: The findings imply that bibliotherapy could serve as an affordable and\u0000prompt intervention, potentially reducing the need for additional medications. However,\u0000the study emphasizes the importance of further research to strengthen the evidence base,\u0000particularly in diverse populations and settings.\u0000","PeriodicalId":36711,"journal":{"name":"Current Psychiatry Research and Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.3,"publicationDate":"2024-07-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141814787","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}