The efficacy of telephone‐delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in people with chronic illnesses and mental diseases: A meta‐analysis

Abstract

COVID‐19 pandemic led to an increase of remote treatments, such as telephone‐delivery cognitive behavioral therapy (T‐CBT). To our knowledge, no meta‐analyses studied the effect of T‐CBT in chronic and/or mental illnesses on multiple psychological outcomes. Therefore, our study aims to evaluating the efficacy of T‐CBT compared to other interventions (treatment as usual, TAU, or face‐to‐face CBT). Each effect size (ES) was calculated in Hedges' g and pooled together to produce a mean ES for each outcome (depression, anxiety, mental and physical QoL, worry, coping, and sleep disturbances). The meta‐analysis included 33 studies with a randomized controlled trial design. A large ES was found when comparing the efficacy of T‐CBT against TAU on depression (g = 0.84, p < 0.001), whereas a moderate ES was found on anxiety (g = 0.57; p < 0.001), and a small effect on mental quality of life (g = 0.33, p < 0.001), sleep disturbances (g = 0.37, p = 0.042), coping (g = 0.20, p = 0.016) and worry (g = 0.43, p = 0.001). The meta‐analysis comparing the efficacy of T‐CBT and CBT on depression revealed a not significant pooled ES (g = 0.06, p = 0.466). The results provided evidence that T‐CBT could be to be more effective than TAU conditions in multiple psychological outcomes, and as efficient as face‐to‐face CBT in treating depression.