Table 4 Study characteristics (therapists, participants). Weighted means
From: Internet psychotherapeutic interventions for anxiety disorders – a critical evaluation
Diagnoses | |
Panic disorder | N = 11 (28.2%) |
Generalised anxiety disorder | N = 8 (20.5%) |
Social anxiety disorder | N = 20 (51.3%) |
Total | N = 39 |
Study arms | N = 97 |
Average sample size per study arm | N = 42.5 (SD 28.3) |
Referral | |
newspaper advertisements/websites | 89.7% |
general practitioners, psychiatrists or psychologists | 10.3% |
Diagnosis made by | |
only psychologists/psychiatrists | 33.3% |
students and psychologists | 41.0% |
self diagnosis via website | 5.1% |
trained interviewers | 2.6% |
no information | 12.8% |
Diagnosis made | |
in person | 25.6% |
telephone | 64.1% |
self diagnosis via website | 5.1% |
no information | 5.1% |
Diagnoses made by personal contact with psychiatrist/psychologist | 15.4% |
Mean duration of studies (weeks) | 9.3 (SD 1.9) |
Therapist time (minutes per week) | 17.5 |
Therapists | |
Clinicians | 51.3% |
Mostly students | 41.0% |
None at all | 7.7% |
Participants with academic background | 63.0% |
Blinding of main outcome | 2.6% |
Ongoing psychopharmacological medications allowed | |
Yes | 87.1% |
No | 2.6% |
No information | 10.3% |
Average percentage of patients receiving ongoing medication | 31.3% |
Adherence | 69.3% |
Average age of participants | |
Panic disorder/agoraphobia | 38.6 years |
Generalised anxiety disorder | 38.2 years |
Social anxiety disorder | 35.5 years |