AI Article Synopsis

  • The study aimed to assess the effectiveness of digital psychotherapies for treating depression and anxiety through a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA) of eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs).
  • A total of 72 RCTs involving 13,096 participants were included, finding that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) significantly outperformed treatment as usual (TAU) and other therapies for depression and anxiety, while exercise therapy (ERT) also showed effectiveness for anxiety.
  • Limitations included variable quality in the literature, a straightforward network design, and reliance on subjective assessment, but overall, the study supports CBT and ERT as preferred digital therapies.

Article Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of digital psychotherapies for depression and anxiety. We conducted a systematic review and network meta-analyses (NMA) to make comparisons of digital psychotherapies.

Methods: A bayesian NMA was conducted in this study. The databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and CINAL were searched for all eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from Jan 1, 2012 to Oct 1, 2022. We used the Cochrane Collaboration's Risk of bias tool for quality assessment. The primary outcomes were set as a standardized mean difference model in efficacy to describe continuous outcomes. We used STATA and WinBUGS to conduct a bayesian network meta-analysis of all interventions based on a random-effects model. This study was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42022374558.

Results: From the retrieved 16,750 publications, we included 72 RCTs (13,096 participants) with the overall medium quality and above. In terms of depression scale, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) was more effective than TAU (SMDs 0.53) and NT (SMDs 0.98). In terms of anxiety scale, CBT (SMDs 0.68; SMDs 0.72) and exercise therapy (ERT) (SMDs 1.01; SMDs 1.05) were more effective than TAU and NT.

Limitations: Uneven quality of literature, simple network, and subjective judgment.

Conclusion: Based on NMA results, we suggest that CBT, which is the most commonly used digital technology, should be preferred among digital psychotherapy for relieving depression and anxiety symptoms. Digital exercise therapy is an effective strategy to relieve some anxiety problems in the context of COVID-19.

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Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.06.057DOI Listing

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