Randomized controlled pilot trial of supportive text messages for patients with depression

BMC Psychiatry

Research Article

Victoria Y. M. Suen¹  Joy Omeje²  Michal Juhás³  Serdar M. Dursun³  Vincent I. O. Agyapong³  Andrew J. Greenshaw³  Arto Ohinmaa⁴  Kelly Mrklas⁵ 

[1] Addiction and Mental Health Strategic Clinical Network, Alberta Health Services, Edmonton, AB, Canada;Department of Public Health, Alberta Health Services, Fort Mc Murray, AB, Canada;Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, 1E1 Walter Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre (WMC), 8440 112 St NW, T6G 2B7, Edmonton, AB, Canada;Institute of Health Economics and School of Public Health, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada;Research Priorities and Implementation, Research Innovation and Analytics, Alberta Health Services, Calgary, AB, Canada;

关键词: Depression;    Mobile health;    mHealth;    eHealth;    Supportive text messages;    Randomised controlled trial;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-017-1448-2

 received in 2016-12-07, accepted in 2017-07-28,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundDepression is projected to be the primary cause of disability worldwide by 2030. In a recent survey, the most commonly cited unmet need among 42.4% of depressed Albertans was the lack of sufficient, accessible, and affordable counselling. Our aim was to test the efficacy of a supportive text messaging mobile health intervention in improving treatment outcomes in depressed patients.MethodsWe performed a single-rater-blinded randomized trial involving 73 patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients in the intervention group (n = 35) received twice-daily supportive text messages for 3 months while those in the control group (n = 38) received a single text message every fortnight thanking them for participating in the study. The primary outcome of this study was: “Mean changes in the BDI scores from baseline“.ResultsAfter adjusting for baseline BDI scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean BDI scores between the intervention and control groups: (20.8 (SD = 11.7) vs. 24.9 (SD = 11.5), F (1, 60) = 4.83, p = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.07). The mean difference in the BDI scores change was significant with an effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.67. Furthermore, after adjusting for baseline scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean self-rated VAS scores (EQ-5D-5 L scale) between the intervention and control groups, 65.7 (SD = 15.3) vs. 57.4 (SD = 22.9), F (1, 60) =4.16, p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.065. The mean difference in change mean self-rated VAS scores was also statistically significant with an effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.51.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that supportive text messages are a potentially useful psychological intervention for depression, especially in underserved populations. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of our findings in larger clinical samples.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT02327858. Registered 24 December 2014.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017