Websites offering information about depression or cognitive behaviour therapy reduced depressive symptoms
Q In community dwelling patients with depression, do websites offering information about depression or cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) reduce depressive symptoms?
METHODS
Design:
randomised controlled trial.
Allocation:
{concealed}*.
Blinding:
unblinded.
Follow up period:
6 weeks of intervention.
Setting:
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Patients:
525 patients 18–52 years of age (mean age 36 y, 71% women) who had symptoms of depression but were not receiving clinical care and had access to the internet.
Intervention:
a website offering information about depression (BluePages, http://bluepages.anu.edu.au) (n = 165) or CBT (MoodGYM, http://moodgym.anu.edu.au) (n = 182), or an “attention placebo” (control) (n = 178). Lay interviewers telephoned patients in the BluePages and MoodGYM groups every week to provide directions on how …
