%0 Journal Article
%T Psychotherapy mediated by remote communication technologies: a meta-analytic review
%A Penny E Bee
%A Peter Bower
%A Karina Lovell
%A Simon Gilbody
%A David Richards
%A Linda Gask
%A Pamela Roach
%J BMC Psychiatry
%D 2008
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-244x-8-60
%X Systematic review (including electronic database searching and correspondence with authors) of randomised trials of individual remote psychotherapy. Electronic databases searched included MEDLINE (1966¨C2006), PsycInfo (1967¨C2006), EMBASE (1980¨C2006) and CINAHL databases (1982¨C2006). The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) and the Cochrane Collaboration Depression, Anxiety and Neurosis Controlled Trials Register (CCDAN-CTR). All searches were conducted to include studies with a publication date to July 2006.Thirteen studies were identified, ten assessing psychotherapy by telephone, two by internet and one by videoconference. Pooled effect sizes for remote therapy versus control conditions were 0.44 for depression (95%CI 0.29 to 0.59, 7 comparisons, n = 726) and 1.15 for anxiety-related disorders (95%CI 0.81 to 1.49, 3 comparisons, n = 168). There were few comparisons of remote versus face-to-face psychotherapy.Remote therapy has the potential to overcome some of the barriers to conventional psychological therapy services. Telephone-based interventions are a particularly popular research focus and as a means of therapeutic communication may confer specific advantages in terms of their widespread availability and ease of operation. However, the available evidence is limited in quantity and quality. More rigorous trials are required to confirm these preliminary estimates of effectiveness. Future research priorities should include overcoming the methodological shortcomings of published work by conducting large-scale trials that incorporate both clinical outcome and more process-orientated measures.Psychological disorders account for over 15% of the total burden of disease within established economies, a significant proportion of which manifests in depressive and anxiety-related disorders [1]. For these disorders, effective treatment options often include non-pharmacological as well as pharmacological interventions. Consensus guidelines recommend the
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-244X/8/60