SynthesisDepression and anxiety2018
Cost effectiveness of guided Internet-based interventions for depression in comparison with control conditions: An individual-participant data meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Depression and anxiety, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Comparison of Cost-Effectiveness Between Digital Health Interventions and Pharmacotherapy for Depression: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- [Efficacy of internet-based interventions for depression available in Germany-A systematic review and meta-analysis].Der Nervenarzt · 2024Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of Internet Interventions Compared With Treatment as Usual for People With Mental Disorders: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Digital interventions in mental health: evidence syntheses and economic modelling.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Pooled it
- A systematic review of trial-based economic evaluations of internet- and mobile-based interventions for substance use disorders.European journal of public health · 2021Pooled it
- Economic Evaluations of Internet-Based Psychological Interventions for Anxiety Disorders and Depression: A Systematic Review.Journal of affective disorders · 2021Pooled it
- Cost effectiveness of guided Internet-based interventions for depression in comparison with control conditions: An individual-participant data meta-analysis.Depression and anxiety · 2018Pooled it
- Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of an App-Based Mindfulness Breast Care Program for Reducing Body Image Distress and Stigma Among Survivors of Breast Cancer: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Trial
- Cost Utility Analysis of Internet-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- Cost-Effectiveness of Computer-Assisted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression Among Adults in Primary Care.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Cost-effectiveness of three internet-based interventions for eating disorders: A randomized controlled trial.The International journal of eating disorders · 2022Trial
- Internet and Face-to-face Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Postnatal Depression Compared With Treatment as Usual: Randomized Controlled Trial of MumMoodBooster.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Improving Cost-effectiveness and Access to Cognitive Behavior Therapy for Depression: Providing Remote-Ready, Computer-Assisted Psychotherapy in Times of Crisis and Beyond.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2020Trial
- Cost and Effectiveness of Blended Versus Standard Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Outpatients With Depression in Routine Specialized Mental Health Care: Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Trial
- Economic Evaluation of an Internet-Based Preventive Cognitive Therapy With Minimal Therapist Support for Recurrent Depression: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2018Trial
- Costs and Outcomes of a Therapist-Guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Multicenter Observational Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Observational
- Cost-effectiveness analysis of mHealth applications for depression in Germany using a Markov cohort simulation.NPJ digital medicine · 2024Article
- Healthcare use in patients with cardiovascular disease and depressive symptoms - The impact of a nurse-led internet-delivered cognitive behavioural therapy program. A secondary analysis of a RCT.Internet interventions · 2024Article
- Cost-effectiveness of digital interventions for mental health: current evidence, common misconceptions, and future directions.Frontiers in digital health · 2024Article
- Systematic review of economic evaluations for internet- and mobile-based interventions for mental health problems.NPJ digital medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is limited evidence on the cost effectiveness of Internet-based treatments for depression. The aim was to evaluate the cost effectiveness of guided Internet-based interventions for depression compared to controls.
methodsIndividual-participant data from five randomized controlled trials (RCT), including 1,426 participants, were combined. Cost-effectiveness analyses were conducted at 8 weeks, 6 months, and 12 months follow-up.
resultsThe guided Internet-based interventions were more costly than the controls, but not statistically significant (12 months mean difference = €406, 95% CI: - 611 to 1,444). The mean differences in clinical effects were not statistically significant (12 months mean difference = 1.75, 95% CI: - .09 to 3.60 in Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D] score, .06, 95% CI: - .02 to .13 in response rate, and .00, 95% CI: - .03 to .03 in quality-adjusted life-years [QALYs]). Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves indicated that high investments are needed to reach an acceptable probability that the intervention is cost effective compared to control for CES-D and response to treatment (e.g., at 12-month follow-up the probability of being cost effective was .95 at a ceiling ratio of 2,000 €/point of improvement in CES-D score). For QALYs, the intervention's probability of being cost effective compared to control was low at the commonly accepted willingness-to-pay threshold (e.g., at 12-month follow-up the probability was .29 and. 31 at a ceiling ratio of 24,000 and 35,000 €/QALY, respectively).
conclusionsBased on the present findings, guided Internet-based interventions for depression are not considered cost effective compared to controls. However, only a minority of RCTs investigating the clinical effectiveness of guided Internet-based interventions also assessed cost effectiveness and were included in this individual-participant data meta-analysis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.