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Most patients with depression are treated in the primary care setting, where access to psychotherapy is often limited, and follow-through with referral is poor. Telephone-administered cognitive-behavioral therapy (T-CBT) has been evaluated for its ability to overcome these barriers but not for its effectiveness compared with face-to-face CBT (FF-CBT). In this study, Chicago researchers randomized 325 primary care patients (mean age, 48; 77% women) with major depressive disorder to 18 sessions of T-CBT or FF-CBT, delivered individually by trained therapists using the same CBT protocol over 14 weeks. Patients with comorbid psychiatric disorders, dementia, substance abuse, or severe suicidality were excluded.
Significantly fewer T-CBT than FF-C…