Cited by 357Digital Mental Health InterventionsAnxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesPsychological Treatments and Assessments

Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for depression and anxiety update: a systematic review and economic evaluation

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Kaltenthaler, E, Brazier, J, De Nigris, E, Tumur, I, Ferriter, M, Beverley, C, Parry, G, Rooney, G +1 more·2006·Health Technology Assessment

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (CCBT) for the treatment of anxiety, depression, phobias, panic and obsessive-compulsive behaviour (OCD). The software packages to be considered include Beating the Blues (BtB), Overcoming Depression: a five areas approach, FearFighter (FF), Cope and BT Steps. Other packages or programmes incorporating CCBT were also considered. DATA SOURCES: Electronic databases from 1966 to March 2004. Evidence submitted by sponsors for CCBT products. REVIEW METHODS: A systematic review was a review of the literature and the evidence submitted by sponsors for each of the products. A series of cost-effectiveness models was developed and run by the project team for the five CCBT products across the three mental health conditions. RESULTS: Twenty studies were identified in the clinical effectiveness review. The analysis of these results showed some evidence that CCBT is as effective as therapist-led cognitive behaviour therapy (TCBT) for the treatment of depression/anxiety and phobia/panic and is more effective than treatment as usual (TAU) in the treatment of depression/anxiety. CCBT also appears to reduce therapist time compared with TCBT. When reviewing cost-effectiveness studies, only one published economic evaluation of CCBT was found. This was an economic evaluation of the depression software BtB alongside a randomised controlled trial (RCT), which found that BtB was cost-effective against TAU in terms of cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) (less than 2000 pounds), however it contained weaknesses that were then addressed in the cost-effectiveness model developed for the study. The results of the model for the depression software packages in terms of incremental cost per QALY compared with TAU and the chance of being cost-effective at 30,000 pounds per QALY were for BtB 1801 pounds and 86.8%, for Cope 7139 pounds and 62.6% and for Overcoming Depression 5391 pounds and 54.4%. The strength of the BtB software being that it has been evaluated in the context of an RCT with a control group. The subgroup analysis found no differences across the severity groupings. For phobia/panic software, the model showed an incremental cost per QALY of FF over relaxation was 2380 pounds. Its position compared with TCBT is less clear. When modelling OCD packages, using the practice-level licence cost meant that BT Steps was dominated by TCBT, which had significantly better outcomes and was cheaper. However, the cheaper PCT licence resulted in the incremental cost-effectiveness of BT Steps over relaxation being 15,581 pounds and TCBT over BT Steps being 22,484 pounds. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings are subject to substantial uncertainties around the organisational level for purchasing these products and the likely throughput. This is in addition to concerns with the quality of evidence on response to therapy, longer term outcomes and quality of life. The position of CCBT within a stepped care programme needs to be identified, as well as its relationship to other efforts to increase access to CBT and psychological therapies. Research is needed to compare CCBT with other therapies that reduce therapist time, in particular bibliotherapy and to explore the use of CCBT via the Internet. Independent research is needed, particularly RCTs, that examine areas such as patient preference and therapist involvement within primary care.

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  • The use of the Internet is a feasible solution for the accessibility problem in psychotherapy.

    “The use of the Internet has been shown to be a feasible solution for the accessibility problem (18, 19).”

    From Exploring the relationship between the acceptability of an internet-based intervention for depression in primary care and clinical outcomes: Secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial (2019) · cites this paper as [18]

    The ‘Computers in mental healthcare’ section says treatment can be delivered via the Internet and that computer-based therapy can potentially improve access, including for people unable to access care. But the ‘Cost impact’ section describes the evidence as limited and Internet-only packages as potentially useful, so the paper does not establish that Internet delivery has been shown to solve the accessibility problem. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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  • Of the three commercially-produced computerised packages for depression available to the NHS considered in the 2006 HTA review, only Beating The Blues, an adult intervention best suited to those aged 25 and over, had been evaluated in a randomised controlled trial by its developers.

    “With respect to depression, three commercially-produced computerised packages available to the National Health Service (NHS) were considered—Beating The Blues, Cope and Overcoming Depression. Of these, only one adult intervention, Beating The Blues, best suited to those aged 25 and over, had been evaluated in a randomised controlled trial by its developers.13”

    From Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for depression in adolescents: Study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial (2014) · cites this paper as [14]

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    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Existing research into CCBT has mainly been conducted with adults with depression and was most recently summarised in a 2006 HTA review of clinical and cost-effectiveness.

    “Existing research into CCBT, which has mainly been conducted with adults with depression, has most recently been summarised in a 2006 HTA review of clinical and cost-effectiveness.14”

    From Computerised cognitive behaviour therapy for depression in adolescents: Study protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial (2014) · cites this paper as [14]

    The paper is a 2006 review of CCBT clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, and its included studies cover predominantly adult populations. But the ‘mainly adults with depression’ characterization is not established by our copy: the ‘Quantity and quality of research available’ section identifies trials of depression/anxiety and phobia/panic, with OCD considered separately. The paper also cannot establish that it was the most recent review when the citing sentence was written. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Evidence-based rationales for the content and ratio of combined online and face-to-face sessions are lacking.

    “Evidence-based rationales for the content and ratio of the combined online and face-to-face sessions are, therefore, lacking [7,21].”
  • Online psychological treatments for depression are often as effective as face-to-face psychological treatments.

    “Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses have shown that online psychological treatments for depression often are as effective as face-to-face psychological treatments [3,6,7].”

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Research works printed but not linked: 26

  1. NHS Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, University of York. Improving the recognition and management of depression in primary care. Effective Health Care 2002;7:1-11.
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  3. Churchill R, Hunot V, Corney R, Knapp M, McGuire H, Tylee A, et al. A systematic review of controlled trials of the effectiveness and cost- effectiveness of brief psychological treatments for depression. Health Technol Assess 2001;5(35).
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Authors
Kaltenthaler, E., Brazier, J., De Nigris, E., Tumur, I., Ferriter, M., Beverley, C., Parry, G., Rooney, G., & Sutcliffe, P.
Affiliations
  • University of Sheffield (GB)
  • Rampton Hospital (GB)
Venue
Health Technology Assessment
Published
2006-09
Volume
10
Issue
33
Pages
iii, xi-xiv, 1
ISSN
  • 1366-5278 (ISSN-L)
  • 2046-4924
OpenAlex
W2033257301
Cited by
357
References
184
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 11 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 26 · 2012: 17
FWCI
4.24
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Health Technology Assessment (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Warwick Research Archive Portal (University of Warwick) (acceptedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
  • White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Health Technology Assessment programme (04/01/01)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Digital Mental Health Interventions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychological Treatments and Assessments
Keywords
depression, anxiety, phobia, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, COPE, cost-effectiveness, quality-adjusted life years, clinical effectiveness, economic evaluation model, treatment as usual comparison
MeSH terms
Anxiety Disorders, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Depression, United Kingdom, Humans, State Medicine, Therapy, Computer-Assisted, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Models, Econometric

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