Telephone-supported computerised cognitive–behavioural therapy: REEACT-2 large-scale pragmatic randomised controlled trial

<b>Background</b>Computerised cognitive-behavioural therapy (cCBT) for depression has the potential to be efficient therapy but engagement is poor in primary care trials.<b>Aims</b>We tested the benefits of adding telephone support to cCBT.<b>Method</b>We compared telephone-facilitated cCBT (MoodGYM) (n = 187) to minimally supported cCBT (MoodGYM) (n = 182) in a pragmatic randomised trial (trial registration: ISRCTN55310481). Outcomes were depression severity (Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9), anxiety (Generalized Anxiety Disorder Questionnaire (GAD)-7) and somatoform complaints (PHQ-15) at 4 and 12 months.<b>Results</b>Use of cCBT increased by a factor of between 1.5 and 2 with telephone facilitation. At 4 months PHQ-9 scores were 1.9 points lower (95% CI 0.5-3.3) for telephone-supported cCBT. At 12 months, the results were no longer statistically significant (0.9 PHQ-9 points, 95% CI -0.5 to 2.3). There was improvement in anxiety scores and for somatic complaints.<b>Conclusions</b>Telephone facilitation of cCBT improves engagement and expedites depression improvement. The effect was small to moderate and comparable with other low-intensity psychological interventions.