Trial results for a study investigating Behavioral Activation-Rehabilitation to improve depressive symptoms and physical function after acute respiratory failure were posted on 2025-09-19. The trial reported high feasibility for the intervention, with 0.94 proportion of total intervention visits completed.

Background

Patients surviving acute respiratory failure in the intensive care unit often experience problems with depression and physical functioning, which can lead to reduced quality of life. There is a recognized lack of effective treatments for this patient population. Previous research suggests that interventions addressing both mental and physical health concurrently may yield greater success. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and potential benefit of a combined therapy, delivered via telephone and home visits, targeting both depression and physical rehabilitation.

Trial design

This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 52 participants. The trial focused on conditions including Respiratory Insufficiency, Depression, Rehabilitation, and Critical Care. The intervention involved a combined approach of Behavioral Activation - Rehabilitation, while the comparator arm received Usual Care Control. The brief summary indicates the research evaluated whether this combined therapy was feasible and might help patients, though specific primary outcomes were not detailed in the provided data.

Key results

The study reported several key measurements, primarily focusing on feasibility:

What this means

The reported feasibility measures suggest that the Behavioral Activation-Rehabilitation intervention, delivered via telephone and home visits, is largely feasible. A high proportion of intended visits were completed (0.8 per participant, 0.94 overall), and participant retention was also high in both groups (0.88 and 0.93 for intervention and control, respectively). While scores for the HADS and PHQ-8 scales were reported, these are descriptive measurements from a feasibility study, and without further statistical analysis or designation as primary endpoints, definitive conclusions regarding the intervention's efficacy on depressive symptoms cannot be drawn from these figures alone. The data primarily supports the operational viability of delivering such an intervention.

Source

The information for these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT03431493, titled "Behavioral Activation-Rehabilitation to Improve Depressive Symptoms & Physical Function After Acute Respiratory Failure", were posted on 2025-09-19 on clinicaltrials.gov.