Editors' Note: Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Abstract

In “Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Dobkin et al. reported that depressive symptoms (measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) improved significantly in patients with Parkinson disease who had weekly telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy compared with those who had their usual treatment. Braillon commended the authors for independently designing a study that led to both significant and meaningful patient-centered results but lamented the fact that our healthcare systems are not able to facilitate routine care for psychosocial issues in a multidisciplinary manner outside of the clinical environment. Dobkin agreed that there are a number of reasons why patients with Parkinson disease need access to telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy, many of which apply to patients with other neurologic diseases, too. Dobkin also reinforces the need to expand telehealth, with a particular emphasis on provision of mental health care to patients who do not have access to clinicians with the relevant expertise or prefer to be evaluated and treated while at home. In “Telephone-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression in Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial,” Dobkin et al. reported that depressive symptoms (measured using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) improved significantly in patients with Parkinson disease who had weekly telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy compared with those who had their usual treatment. Braillon commended the authors for independently designing a study that led to both significant and meaningful patient-centered results but lamented the fact that our healthcare systems are not able to facilitate routine care for psychosocial issues in a multidisciplinary manner outside of the clinical environment. Dobkin agreed that there are a number of reasons why patients with Parkinson disease need access to telephone-based cognitive behavioral therapy, many of which apply to patients with other neurologic diseases, too. Dobkin also reinforces the need to expand telehealth, with a particular emphasis on provision of mental health care to patients who do not have access to clinicians with the relevant expertise or prefer to be evaluated and treated while at home.