Guided internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for patients with rheumatic conditions: A systematic review

Jessy A Terpstra; Rosalie van der Vaart; He Jie Ding; Margreet Kloppenburg; Andrea W M Evers

doi:10.1016/j.invent.2021.100444

Guided internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy for patients with rheumatic conditions: A systematic review

Internet Interv. 2021 Aug 11:26:100444. doi: 10.1016/j.invent.2021.100444. eCollection 2021 Dec.

Authors

Jessy A Terpstra^{1

2}, Rosalie van der Vaart¹, He Jie Ding¹, Margreet Kloppenburg², Andrea W M Evers^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Psychology, Health, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Leiden University, PO Box 9555, 2300 RB Leiden, the Netherlands.
² Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Rheumatology, C1-R, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands.
³ Leiden University Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, B1-P, PO Box 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Context: Rheumatic conditions have a large impact on both patients and society. Many patients experience adjustment problems, such as symptoms of anxiety and depression and sleep problems, contributing to high healthcare costs. Internet-based cognitive-behavioral therapy (iCBT) has shown to support patients with somatic conditions in coping with their disease, with therapist-guided iCBT usually showing larger effects than unguided iCBT. However, the specific relevance of guided iCBT for rheumatic conditions has not been reviewed yet, which could have important implications for implementation.

Objectives: The objective of our review was to give an overview of evaluations of guided iCBT for rheumatic conditions, including physical, psychological, and impact on daily life outcomes.

Methods: This review is registered with PROSPERO with registration number CRD42020154911. The review followed PRISMA guidelines and included an assessment of risk of bias. PubMed, PsycINFO, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Emcare were searched until 5 October 2020. Inclusion criteria were: patients ≥18 years old with a rheumatic condition, randomized controlled trial, accessible full-text English article, original data, inclusion of psychological, and/or physical and/or impact outcomes, and therapist-guided iCBT. Study and sample characteristics, as well as clinical variables were extracted.

Results: A systematic search identified 6089 studies, of which 8 trials were included, comprising of 1707 participants in total. Significant medium to large between-group effects were found for psychological outcomes (depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, self-efficacy) and impact on daily life outcomes (impact on daily life, quality of life), whilst results for physical outcomes (pain intensity, fatigue) were mixed.

Conclusion: Whilst more research is warranted, for instance regarding physical outcomes, cost-effectiveness, safety of the intervention, and moderators of iCBT success, our results show that guided iCBT could be an important addition to medical treatment for rheumatic conditions. Guided iCBT can improve psychological and impact on daily life outcomes in patients with rheumatic conditions, which is promising for iCBT implementation in clinical practice.

Keywords: Chronic pain; Internet interventions; Online cognitive-behavioral therapy; Rheumatic conditions.

Publication types

Review