An Automated Web-Based Self-Help Program to Prevent Depression

Combining usual care with a guided program using cognitive-behavioral therapy reduced major depressive episodes by 52% in patients with chronic back pain.

Consistent with the move toward remote interventions for mental disorders, researchers assessed whether a web-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program could prevent major depressive episodes (MDEs) in patients with chronic back pain.

A total of 295 patients with persistent back pain (mean age, 53) from 82 orthopedic clinics in Germany were randomized to receive usual care alone (controls) or in combination with a guided, web-based, self-help program designed for patients with back pain (eSano BackCare-DP). Patients did not qualify for a formal depressive diagnosis at baseline. The CBT-based program was supplemented with online feedback from psychologists who followed the patients' progress through six required and three optional 43-m…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

An Automated Web-Based Self-Help Program to Prevent Depression

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Reviewing Author