Outcomes for treatment for anxiety and depression
Published
Last updated 4 March 2021 - see all updates
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1. Main facts and figures
- in every ethnic group, over 60% of patients showed an improvement after treatment for anxiety or depression in 2018 to 2019
- the highest percentage of patients showing an improvement was in the White British ethnic group at 68.1%
- the lowest percentage of patients showing an improvement was in the Bangladeshi ethnic group at 60.8%
- in most ethnic groups, women were more likely to have shown an improvement than men
- between 2015 to 2016 and 2018 to 2019, the percentage of patients showing an improvement increased in every ethnic group
- the biggest increase in patients showing an improvement was in the Pakistani ethnic group
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the percentage of patients who improved, deteriorated or showed no change after being treated for anxiety or depression.
The data covers NHS referrals that ended in each financial year covered (for example, April 2018 to March 2019).
Patients complete health and anxiety questionnaires at the start and end of their treatment. Their responses are used to assess the outcome of their treatment.
A patient has shown 'reliable improvement' if there is both:
- a reliable decrease in one or both of the scores
- no reliable increase in either of them
The data mainly covers adult referrals, but a small number of under-18s are also referred.
Percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place, but are worked out using unrounded figures.
Not included in the data
Data based on fewer than 5 patients is not included. This is to protect people’s confidentiality.
The percentage of referrals with an unknown outcome is not shown, so not all percentages for the 3 outcomes add up to 100%.
The ethnic groups used in the data
Data is shown for the 16 ethnic groups used in the 2001 Census.
The data only includes patients whose ethnicity was known. This was 88% of patients in the year to March 2019.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document for the data on this page.
In the data file
See Download the data for:
- data for clinical commissioning groups – some data is not included if it’s based on a small number of patients
- data showing percentages over time for different ethnic groups by gender
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Reliably improved | No Reliable Change | Reliably deteriorated |
|---|---|---|---|
| % | % | % | |
| Asian | 63.9 | 27.5 | 7.5 |
| Bangladeshi | 60.8 | 28.2 | 8.8 |
| Indian | 66.4 | 26.0 | 6.8 |
| Pakistani | 63.0 | 28.3 | 7.7 |
| Asian other | 62.0 | 28.7 | 8.1 |
| Black | 66.2 | 25.6 | 7.0 |
| Black African | 66.2 | 25.3 | 7.1 |
| Black Caribbean | 66.4 | 25.7 | 7.0 |
| Black other | 65.7 | 26.0 | 6.9 |
| Mixed | 64.7 | 27.6 | 6.7 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 63.4 | 29.2 | 6.3 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 65.6 | 27.2 | 6.7 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 64.7 | 27.4 | 7.0 |
| Mixed other | 65.1 | 27.1 | 6.7 |
| White | 68.0 | 25.4 | 5.5 |
| White British | 68.1 | 25.4 | 5.5 |
| White Irish | 65.5 | 27.2 | 6.4 |
| White other | 66.9 | 26.0 | 6.0 |
| Other including Chinese | 64.0 | 27.5 | 7.4 |
| Chinese | 66.5 | 26.5 | 6.0 |
| Any other | 63.4 | 27.7 | 7.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Outcomes for treatment for anxiety and depression By ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- 68.0% of White patients showed an improvement after therapy, the highest percentage out of the 5 aggregated ethnic groups
- patients from the Asian (63.9%) and Other (64.0%) ethnic groups were the least likely to show an improvement out of the same 5 groups
- out of all 16 ethnic groups, White British (68.1%) and White Other (66.9%) patients were the most likely to have improved
- Bangladeshi (60.8%), Asian Other (62.0%) and Pakistani (63.0%) patients were the least likely to have improved
- 8.8% of Bangladeshi patients deteriorated, the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups
- the patients least likely to have deteriorated were from the White British (5.5%), White Other and Chinese (both 6.0%) ethnic groups
- Mixed White and Asian patients were the most likely to show no change (29.2%)
- the least likely to show no change were Black African (25.3%) and White British (25.4%) patients
4. By ethnicity over time
| Reliably improved (%) | No Reliable Change (%) | Reliably deteriorated (%) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Reliably improved (%) 2015/16 | Reliably improved (%) 2016/17 | Reliably improved (%) 2017/18 | Reliably improved (%) 2018/19 | No Reliable Change (%) 2015/16 | No Reliable Change (%) 2016/17 | No Reliable Change (%) 2017/18 | No Reliable Change (%) 2018/19 | Reliably deteriorated (%) 2015/16 | Reliably deteriorated (%) 2016/17 | Reliably deteriorated (%) 2017/18 | Reliably deteriorated (%) 2018/19 |
| Asian | 56.7 | 61.1 | 62.7 | 63.9 | 31.7 | 29.6 | 28.4 | 27.5 | 8.4 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.5 |
| Bangladeshi | 53.9 | 58.9 | 61.7 | 60.8 | 32.0 | 29.7 | 28.1 | 28.2 | 10.7 | 10.1 | 8.6 | 8.8 |
| Indian | 59.2 | 64.0 | 65.3 | 66.4 | 30.7 | 28.1 | 27.1 | 26.0 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 6.4 | 6.8 |
| Pakistani | 54.9 | 59.1 | 61.3 | 63.0 | 32.5 | 30.8 | 29.1 | 28.3 | 9.1 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 7.7 |
| Asian other | 55.2 | 59.1 | 60.4 | 62.0 | 32.3 | 30.8 | 30.0 | 28.7 | 8.7 | 8.2 | 8.1 | 8.1 |
| Black | 59.8 | 62.5 | 63.9 | 66.2 | 29.4 | 28.7 | 27.3 | 25.6 | 8.2 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.0 |
| Black African | 58.8 | 61.7 | 63.1 | 66.2 | 29.6 | 28.9 | 27.9 | 25.3 | 8.5 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| Black Caribbean | 60.8 | 63.3 | 64.5 | 66.4 | 29.1 | 28.5 | 26.9 | 25.7 | 7.7 | 7.1 | 7.3 | 7.0 |
| Black other | 58.6 | 61.8 | 64.2 | 65.7 | 30.0 | 29.2 | 27.1 | 26.0 | 8.7 | 7.5 | 7.2 | 6.9 |
| Mixed | 58.6 | 62.4 | 63.2 | 64.7 | 30.9 | 29.1 | 28.3 | 27.6 | 7.3 | 6.7 | 7.2 | 6.7 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 58.2 | 63.5 | 62.7 | 63.4 | 31.5 | 28.8 | 28.8 | 29.2 | 7.4 | 6.0 | 7.2 | 6.3 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 60.8 | 61.0 | 64.1 | 65.6 | 28.4 | 30.5 | 26.8 | 27.2 | 7.8 | 6.5 | 7.9 | 6.7 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 58.8 | 61.5 | 63.7 | 64.7 | 31.2 | 30.2 | 27.9 | 27.4 | 7.0 | 6.8 | 7.3 | 7.0 |
| Mixed other | 58.0 | 62.9 | 62.8 | 65.1 | 30.9 | 27.9 | 28.7 | 27.1 | 7.5 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 6.7 |
| White | 63.5 | 66.0 | 67.2 | 68.0 | 28.3 | 26.9 | 26.2 | 25.4 | 6.0 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| White British | 63.6 | 66.1 | 67.3 | 68.1 | 28.2 | 26.9 | 26.2 | 25.4 | 5.9 | 5.8 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
| White Irish | 63.8 | 65.2 | 65.8 | 65.5 | 27.6 | 26.9 | 26.7 | 27.2 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 6.6 | 6.4 |
| White other | 61.9 | 63.7 | 65.6 | 66.9 | 28.8 | 28.2 | 27.0 | 26.0 | 6.8 | 6.7 | 6.3 | 6.0 |
| Other including Chinese | 56.4 | 59.0 | 61.7 | 64.0 | 30.8 | 30.5 | 28.8 | 27.5 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 8.0 | 7.4 |
| Chinese | 60.6 | 64.5 | 65.4 | 66.5 | 29.4 | 26.9 | 27.7 | 26.5 | 6.6 | 7.4 | 5.9 | 6.0 |
| Any other | 55.7 | 57.9 | 61.0 | 63.4 | 31.1 | 31.2 | 29.0 | 27.7 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 8.4 | 7.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity over time’ (CSV)
Summary of Outcomes for treatment for anxiety and depression By ethnicity over time Summary
This data shows that, between 2015/16 and 2018/19:
- the percentage of patients who improved after therapy increased in every ethnic group
- out of all 16 ethnic groups, the biggest increase in patients showing an improvement was in the Pakistani ethnic group, from 54.9% to 63.0%
- the smallest increase was in the White Irish ethnic group, from 63.8% to 65.5%
- out of the 5 aggregated ethnic groups, the biggest increase in patients improving was among Asian patients, from 56.7% to 63.9%
- the smallest increase was among White patients, from 63.5% to 68.0%
- the gap between White and Asian patients in the percentage showing an improvement went down from 6.8 to 4.1 percentage points
- the gap between White patients and those from the Other ethnic group in the percentage showing an improvement went down from 7.1 to 4.0 percentage points
5. By ethnicity and gender
| Reliably improved | No Reliable Change | Reliably deteriorated | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Reliably improved Men (%) | Reliably improved Women (%) | No Reliable Change Men (%) | No Reliable Change Women (%) | Reliably deteriorated Men (%) | Reliably deteriorated Women (%) |
| Asian | 62.8 | 64.5 | 28.3 | 27.1 | 7.8 | 7.4 |
| Bangladeshi | 56.6 | 63.4 | 30.4 | 27.0 | 10.1 | 8.0 |
| Indian | 66.5 | 66.4 | 26.2 | 25.9 | 6.6 | 6.8 |
| Pakistani | 63.0 | 63.0 | 28.1 | 28.4 | 7.9 | 7.6 |
| Asian other | 59.0 | 63.6 | 31.1 | 27.4 | 8.5 | 7.8 |
| Black | 64.6 | 66.9 | 27.2 | 25.0 | 6.9 | 7.0 |
| Black African | 64.6 | 66.9 | 27.2 | 24.5 | 6.7 | 7.2 |
| Black Caribbean | 65.0 | 67.0 | 26.5 | 25.3 | 7.4 | 6.8 |
| Black other | 63.4 | 66.6 | 28.9 | 24.8 | 6.2 | 7.2 |
| Mixed | 63.9 | 65.1 | 28.0 | 27.4 | 6.8 | 6.7 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 64.2 | 63.1 | 27.6 | 29.9 | 7.3 | 5.9 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 61.4 | 67.4 | 30.3 | 25.9 | 8.0 | 6.1 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 63.7 | 65.1 | 28.5 | 27.0 | 6.2 | 7.3 |
| Mixed other | 64.5 | 65.4 | 27.2 | 27.0 | 6.7 | 6.7 |
| White | 67.3 | 68.4 | 26.0 | 25.1 | 5.5 | 5.6 |
| White British | 67.5 | 68.5 | 25.9 | 25.1 | 5.5 | 5.5 |
| White Irish | 65.3 | 65.7 | 27.6 | 26.9 | 6.1 | 6.7 |
| White other | 65.0 | 67.5 | 27.5 | 25.5 | 6.1 | 6.0 |
| Other including Chinese | 63.8 | 64.1 | 27.6 | 27.4 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| Chinese | 71.5 | 64.8 | 22.6 | 27.9 | 5.1 | 6.3 |
| Any other | 62.5 | 63.9 | 28.4 | 27.3 | 7.7 | 7.6 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity and gender’ (CSV)
Summary of Outcomes for treatment for anxiety and depression By ethnicity and gender Summary
This data shows that:
- in most ethnic groups, women were more likely than men to show an improvement after therapy
- the exceptions were the Indian, Mixed White and Asian, and Chinese ethnic groups
- among women, patients from the White British (68.5%) ethnic group were the most likely out of all ethnic groups to have improved after therapy
- women from the Bangladeshi (8.0%) and Asian Other (7.8%) ethnic groups were the most likely to have deteriorated
- among men, patients from the Chinese (71.5%) ethnic group were most likely to have improved after therapy
- men from the Bangladeshi (10.1%) and Asian Other (8.5%) ethnic groups were the most likely to have deteriorated
6. Data sources
Source
Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) dataset
Type of data
Administrative data
Type of statistic
Official statistics
Publisher
NHS England
Publication frequency
Yearly
Purpose of data source
The data is used to monitor and improve the provision of talking therapies services for the treatment of people with anxiety, depression or both.
7. Download the data
This file contains the following: Measure, Time, Time_type, Geography, Geography_type, Ethnicity_type, Ethnicity, Outcome, Outcome_type, Gender, Gender_type, Value, Value_type, Denominator, Numerator