Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008;15(3):243-253.
doi: 10.1111/j.1468-2850.2008.00134.x.

The Effect of Telephone-Administered Psychotherapy on Symptoms of Depression and Attrition: A Meta-Analysis

David C Mohr  1 , Lea Vella, Stacey Hart, Timothy Heckman, Gregory Simon
Affiliations

The Effect of Telephone-Administered Psychotherapy on Symptoms of Depression and Attrition: A Meta-Analysis

David C Mohr et al. Clin Psychol (New York). 2008.

Abstract

Increasingly, the telephone is being used to deliver psychotherapy for depression, in part as a means to reduce barriers to treatment. Twelve trials of telephone-administered psychotherapies, in which depressive symptoms were assessed, were included. There was a significant reduction in depressive symptoms for patients enrolled in telephone-administered psychotherapy as compared to control conditions (d = 0.26, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.14-0.39, p < .0001). There was also a significant reduction in depressive symptoms in analyses of pretreatment to posttreatment change (d = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.50-1.13, p < .0001). The mean attrition rate was 7.56% (95% CI = 4.23-10.90). These findings suggest that telephone-administered psychotherapy can produce significant reductions in depressive symptoms. Attrition rates were considerably lower than rates reported in face-to-face psychotherapy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alvidrez J, Azocar F. Distressed women's clinic patients: Preferences for mental health treatments and perceived obstacles. General Hospital Psychiatry. 1999;21:340–347. - PubMed
    1. Bailey DE, Mishel MH, Belyea M, Stewart JL, Mohler J. Uncertainty intervention for watchful waiting in prostate cancer. Cancer Nursing. 2004;27:339–346. - PubMed
    1. Bedi N, Chilvers C, Churchill R, Dewey M, Duggan C, Fielding K, et al. Assessing effectiveness of treatment of depression in primary care. Partially randomised preference trial. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2000;177:312–318. - PubMed
    1. Berger MM, Glueck BCJ. The telephone—its use as a psychiatric adjunct. Psychiatric Quarterly. 1949;23:522–529.
    1. Blackburn IM, Moore RG. Controlled acute and follow-up trial of cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy in out-patients with recurrent depression. British Journal of Psychiatry. 1997;171:328–334. - PubMed