Effectiveness of the Engagement and Counseling for Latinos (ECLA) intervention in low-income Latinos.

BACKGROUND: Persistent disparities in access and quality of mental health care for Latinos indicate a need for evidence-based, culturally adapted, and outside-the-clinic-walls treatments.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate treatment effectiveness of telephone (ECLA-T) or face-to-face (ECLA-F) delivery of a 6-8 session cognitive behavioral therapy and care management intervention for low-income Latinos, as compared to usual care for depression.

DESIGN: Multisite randomized controlled trial.

SETTING: Eight community health clinics in Boston, Massachusetts and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

PARTICIPANTS: 257 Latino patients recruited from primary care between May 2011 and September 2012.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was severity of depression, assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-20. The secondary outcome was functioning over the previous 30 days, measured using the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHO-DAS 2.0).

RESULTS: Both telephone and face-to-face versions of the Engagement and Counseling for Latinos (ECLA) were more effective than usual care. The effect sizes of both intervention conditions on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 were moderate when combined data from both sites are analyzed (0.56 and 0.64 for face-to-face and telephone, respectively). Similarly, effect sizes of ECLA-F and ECLA-T on the Hopkins Symptom Checklist were quite large in the Boston site (0.64 and 0.73. respectively) but not in Puerto Rico (0.10 and 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The intervention appears to help Latino patients reduce depressive symptoms and improve functioning. Of particular importance is the higher treatment initiation for the telephone versus face-to-face intervention (89.7% vs. 78.8%), which suggests that telephone-based care may improve access and quality of care.