ABSTRACT
Objective:The current systematic review aims to evaluate the effectiveness and quality of interventions on depressive symptoms of informal caregivers of people with dementia in China and to provide evidences regarding protocols for the most effective interventions.Methods:A systematic literature search of Chinese and English databases was performed, covering randomized controlled trails published up to March 2019. The papers for final review were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were extracted and analyzed with RevMan 5.3, after a quality appraisal of the included studies.Results:A total of 17 papers were identified as eligible for descriptive analysis and 14 of the papers provided estimates for meta-analysis, with 991 participants. An overall mean reduction in depression was identified among the participants of intervention group, compared to those in the control group ( SMD value was -0.75, 95% CI -0.88 - -0.62, P<0.01). Psychotherapeutic ( SMD value was -0.59, 95% CI -0.78 - -0.40, P<0.01) and psychoeducational interventions ( SMD value was -0.84, 95% CI -1.02 - -0.67, P<0.01) showed significant reductions of depressive symptoms among the caregivers. In addition, Evidence exists for the effectiveness across from the short-term ( SMD value was -0.54, 95% CI -0.82 - -0.26, P<0.01), medium-term ( SMD value was -0.68, 95% CI -0.83 - -0.52, P<0.01) to the long-term interventions ( SMD value was -0.80, 95% CI -1.08 - -0.53, P<0.01). Conclusion:Interventions targeting to reduce depressive symptoms are effective among informal caregivers of persons with dementia in China. However, insufficient evidences are found regarding the most effective protocols and more high-quality studies are needed for the target population.