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. 2018 Jun 1;18(1):166.
doi: 10.1186/s12888-018-1752-5.

A smartphone application for treating depressive symptoms: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

M Deady  1 , D A Johnston  2   3 , N Glozier  4 , D Milne  5   6 , I Choi  4 , A Mackinnon  2 , A Mykletun  7   8   9   10 , R A Calvo  5 , A Gayed  11 , R Bryant  12 , H Christensen  2 , S B Harvey  2
Affiliations

A smartphone application for treating depressive symptoms: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

M Deady et al. BMC Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Background: Depression is a commonly occurring disorder linked to diminished role functioning and quality of life. The development of treatments that overcome barriers to accessing treatment remains an important area of clinical research as most people delay or do not receive treatment at an appropriate time. The workplace is an ideal setting to roll-out an intervention, particularly given the substantial psychological benefits associated with remaining in the workforce. Mobile health (mhealth) interventions utilising smartphone applications (apps) offer novel solutions to disseminating evidence based programs, however few apps have undergone rigorous testing. The present study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a smartphone app designed to treat depressive symptoms in workers.

Methods: The present study is a multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT), comparing the effectiveness of the intervention to that of an attention control. The primary outcome measured will be reduced depressive symptoms at 3 months. Secondary outcomes such as wellbeing and work performance will also be measured. Employees from a range of industries will be recruited via a mixture of targeted social media advertising and Industry partners. Participants will be included if they present with likely current depression at baseline. Following baseline assessment (administered within the app), participants will be randomised to receive one of two versions of the Headgear application: 1) Intervention (a 30-day mental health intervention focusing on behavioural activation and mindfulness), or 2) attention control app (mood monitoring for 30 days). Participants will be blinded to their allocation. Analyses will be conducted within an intention to treat framework using mixed modelling.

Discussion: The results of this trial will provide valuable information about the effectiveness of mhealth interventions in the treatment of depressive symptoms in a workplace context.

Trial registration: The current trial is registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ( ACTRN12617000547347 , Registration date: 19/04/2017).

Keywords: Depression; Mhealth; Treatment; Workplace.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

The proposed trial has received ethical approval from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Human Research Ethics Committee (HC17021).

Prior to study participation all participants viewed and consented to the information that was provided in the Participant Information Sheet.

Competing interests

All researchers have remained independent from the funders in the completion and submission of this work. All authors have no conflict of interest or competing interests to declare, except that the intellectual property of the smartphone application is jointly owned.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Flow of participants through the trial
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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