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Adjunctive nurse telehealth care reduced depressive symptoms and improved functioning

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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 …

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Footnotes

  • Sources of funding: Kaiser Permanente Northern California; Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program—California Division; Smith-Kline Beecham Pharmaceuticals; Garfield Memorial Fund.

  • For correspondence: Ms E M Hunkeler, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, 3505 Broadway, Seventh Floor, Oakland, CA 94611-5463, USA. Fax +1 510 450 2097.

  • A modified version of this abstract appears in Evidence-Based Mental Health.