Adjunctive nurse telehealth care reduced depressive symptoms and improved functioning
QUESTION: In depressed patients, is adjunctive nurse telehealth care more effective in reducing depressive symptoms than usual physician care alone? Does the addition of peer support to nurse telehealth care further improve outcomes?
Design
Randomised (unclear allocation concealment), unblinded, controlled trial with 6 months of follow up.
Setting
Primary care clinics in northern California, USA.
Patients
302 patients (mean age 55 y, 69% women) who had major depressive disorder or dysthymia and had a prescription for a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Exclusion criteria were previous antidepressant drug prescription in the previous 6 months, inadequate command of English, substance abuse, current suicide risk, or reported thoughts of violence. Follow up was 90% at 6 weeks and 85% at 6 months.
Intervention
Patients were allocated to usual physician care (physician counselling and treatment with an SSRI) (n=123); usual physician care and nurse telehealth care (n=117); or usual physician care, …
