Application of medication therapy management-based “in-hospital assessment - home-based intervention” pharmaceutical care in patients with depression

doi:10.5498/wjp.117965

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Publication Name

World Journal of Psychiatry

ISSN

2220-3206

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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA

Randomized Controlled Trial

Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.

World J Psychiatry. Sep 19, 2026; 16(9): 117965
Published online Sep 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.117965

Application of medication therapy management-based “in-hospital assessment - home-based intervention” pharmaceutical care in patients with depression

Mei-Fang Wang, Hui-Min Zhang, Xiao-Lan Zhang

Mei-Fang Wang, Hui-Min Zhang, Xiao-Lan Zhang, Department of Pharmacy, Rugao Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nantong 226500, Jiangsu Province, China

Co-first authors: Mei-Fang Wang and Hui-Min Zhang.

Author contributions: Wang MF was responsible for developing the methodology; Zhang HM participated in the formal analysis and investigation; Wang MF wrote the original draft; Zhang XL designed the study and participated in the manuscript revision. Wang MF and Zhang HM contributed equally as the co-first authors.

AI contribution statement: The authors did not employ any AI-based tools (including but not limited to ChatGPT, Grammarly, DeepL, or similar software) during the preparation of the manuscript and “Answering-Reviewers” document.

Supported by Scientific Research Project of Nantong Municipal Health Commission, No. MSZ2024091.

Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Rugao Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Approval No. RGSZYYLL2025001), and strictly followed the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Clinical trial registration statement: This trial was not prospectively registered in a clinical trial registry, which is a limitation of the study design.

Informed consent statement: All participants provided written informed consent prior to study enrollment.

Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.

CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.

Data sharing statement: Available for public sharing. Reasonable requests can be made to the corresponding author.

Corresponding author: Xiao-Lan Zhang, Chief Pharmacist, Department of Pharmacy, Rugao Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 269 Dasima Road, Rucheng Town, Rugao City, Nantong 226500, Jiangsu Province, China. 3510294515@qq.com

Received: December 22, 2025
Revised: March 15, 2026
Accepted: July 14, 2026
Published online: September 19, 2026
Processing time: 247 Days and 20.4 Hours

Abstract

BACKGROUND

Depression is a leading global cause of disability, and its high relapse rates are closely linked to poor medication adherence. Current pharmaceutical care models for depression often lack continuity between hospital and home, limiting their long-term efficacy. Structured, continuous care models are needed to close this gap.

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy of a medication therapy management (MTM)-based “in-hospital assessment - home-based intervention” pharmaceutical care model in depression.

METHODS

This single-center, prospective randomized controlled trial enrolled 104 adults with depression, who were randomly assigned 1:1 to an intervention group (MTM-based “in-hospital assessment – home-based intervention” pharmaceutical care) or a control group (conventional care). The primary outcomes were medication adherence and symptom improvement, and all analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle.

RESULTS

Compared with the control group, the intervention group had significantly higher medication adherence (76.92% vs 46.15% at 9 months, P < 0.05), greater reductions in depression symptom scores, a lower 9-month relapse rate (9.62% vs 23.08%, P < 0.05), and reduced healthcare resource utilization (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The MTM-based “in-hospital assessment - home-based intervention” pharmaceutical care model is associated with improved clinical outcomes in adults with depression.

Keywords: Medication therapy management; Depression; In-hospital assessment - home-based intervention; Medication adherence; Relapse prevention

Core Tip: To our knowledge, this is the first medication therapy management-based “in-hospital assessment - home-based intervention” model for depression care, addressing treatment discontinuity. It significantly improved 9-month medication adherence from 46.15% to 76.92% and reduced the 9-month relapse rate from 23.08% to 9.62% compared with conventional care. The model was associated with a 66.7% reduction in hospitalization risk, a 38.1% reduction in direct medical costs, and a 25-percentage-point reduction in the incidence of adverse drug reactions, offering an efficient pathway for comprehensive depression management. Standardized effect sizes (Cohen’s d) for primary outcome was 1.24, indicating large clinical benefits.