Telephone administered cognitive behaviour therapy for treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder: randomised controlled non-inferiority trial

Objectives: To compare the effectiveness of cognitive behaviour therapy delivered by telephone with the same therapy given face to face in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder. Design: Randomised controlled non-inferiority trial. Setting: Two psychology outpatient departments in the United Kingdom. Participants: 72 patients with obsessive compulsive disorder. Intervention: 10 weekly sessions of exposure therapy and response prevention delivered by telephone or face to face. Main outcome measures: Yale Brown obsessive compulsive disorder scale, Beck depression inventory, and client satisfaction questionnaire. Results: Difference in the Yale Brown obsessive compulsive disorder checklist score between the two treatments at six months was - 0.55 (95% confidence interval - 4.26 to 3.15). Patient satisfaction was high for both forms of treatment. Conclusion: The clinical outcome of cognitive behaviour therapy delivered by telephone was equivalent to treatment delivered face to face and similar levels of satisfaction were reported.