The efficacy of telephone-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy in people with chronic illnesses and mental diseases: A meta-analysis

COVID-19 pandemic led to an increase of remote treatments, such as telephone-delivery cognitive behavioral therapy (T-CBT). To our knowledge, no meta-analyses studied the effect of T-CBT in chronic and/or mental illnesses on multiple psychological outcomes. Therefore, our study aims to evaluating the efficacy of T-CBT compared to other interventions (treatment as usual, TAU, or face-to-face CBT). Each effect size (ES) was calculated in Hedges' g and pooled together to produce a mean ES for each outcome (depression, anxiety, mental and physical QoL, worry, coping, and sleep disturbances). The meta-analysis included 33 studies with a randomized controlled trial design. A large ES was found when comparing the efficacy of T-CBT against TAU on depression (g = 0.84, p < 0.001), whereas a moderate ES was found on anxiety (g = 0.57; p < 0.001), and a small effect on mental quality of life (g = 0.33, p < 0.001), sleep disturbances (g = 0.37, p = 0.042), coping (g = 0.20, p = 0.016) and worry (g = 0.43, p = 0.001). The meta-analysis comparing the efficacy of T-CBT and CBT on depression revealed a not significant pooled ES (g = 0.06, p = 0.466). The results provided evidence that T-CBT could be to be more effective than TAU conditions in multiple psychological outcomes, and as efficient as face-to-face CBT in treating depression.