Sports therapy for mild and moderate depression - Innovation Committee recommends transfer into standard care
21.09.2023 18:48
Patients with mild or moderate depression will have another treatment option available in the future. The Innovation Committee at the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA) is in favor of sports therapy with psychotherapeutic support being possible as an alternative to psychotherapy alone. The decision made today is based on the results of the STEP.De project funded by the Innovation Committee.
The project study showed that in the case of mild or moderate depression, psychotherapy can be effectively supplemented and sometimes even replaced by sports therapy. The G-BA now has twelve months to define the details of the new treatment approach as a regular service of statutory health insurance.
Prof. Josef Hecken, chairman of the innovation committee and also impartial chairman of the G-BA: “The results of the STEP.De project study are so convincing that we as the innovation committee are clearly in favor of a transfer to standard care. Psychotherapeutically accompanied sports therapy can be a quick and low-threshold treatment option for mild or moderate depression and - if this is an option for those affected - can partially replace psychotherapy. The G-BA is now examining which specific guidelines need to be adjusted.”
STEP.De – sports therapy for depression
Every year, 1 to 2 percent of Germans suffer from depression for the first time. In a study, the STEP.De project examined a new possible treatment approach for patients whose depression is mild or moderately severe. The aim of the project was to examine whether the new form of care – psychotherapeutically accompanied sports therapy – is not inferior to classic psychotherapy in current standard care. After an initial psychotherapeutic interview, those affected were able to take part in a four-month sports program - led by specially trained sports therapists. In order to record, for example, how symptoms, ability to work and health-related quality of life develop, the patients answered a short questionnaire twice a week using the app. They also had telephone contact with their psychotherapist. After the sports therapy, a psychotherapeutic follow-up discussion clarified whether there was a need for further treatment.
Further details on the results of the STEP.De project and the recommendations of the Innovation Committee in Decision and result report.
Background: Handling project results
After receiving the complete evaluation or results report of a project, the Innovation Committee checks whether the results should be transferred to statutory health insurance coverage. In his decision, he explains to which organizations and institutions the project results and their evaluation will be specifically forwarded. The findings can, for example, be used to further develop the legal framework, the guidelines of the G-BA or federal agreements.
In the STEP.De project, the Innovation Committee determined for the first time in accordance with Section 92b Paragraph 3 SGB V that the G-BA is responsible for transferring the results into the standard care of statutory health insurance. This decision therefore goes beyond the previously decided recommendations to the G-BA to consider consideration. Due to legal requirements, the G-BA is now obliged to incorporate the successfully tested new form of care into standard care within twelve months by adapting the relevant guidelines.
General information about the work of the Innovation Committee as well as current and completed projects can be found on the Innovation Committee website. All results reports from the projects completed to date as well as the resolutions of the recommendations are published on the Innovation Committee's website: decisions.