Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 27:34:85.
doi: 10.34171/mjiri.34.85. eCollection 2020.

Effectiveness of self-help mobile telephone applications (apps) for suicide prevention: A systematic review

Affiliations

Effectiveness of self-help mobile telephone applications (apps) for suicide prevention: A systematic review

Seyed Kazem Malakouti et al. Med J Islam Repub Iran. .

Abstract

Background: According to the expansion of suicide prevention applications in recent years, the aim of this study was to review randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and pretest-posttest studies that evaluated the effectiveness of suicide prevention applications. Methods: In this systematic review, we searched online databases including Pubmed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Chocrane Database, and Google Scholar to find randomized controlled trials and pretest-posttest studies published up to Jul 18, 2019. Randomized controlled trials and pretest-posttest of efficacy self-guided telephone applications that reported any primary and secondary outcome of suicidal thoughts and behaviors were included in the review. We evaluated the articles using the CONSORT 2010 checklist. Results: After screening articles, 7 studies were included in this review. Four studies focused on the effectiveness of applications on suicide thoughts and attempt, 2 on effectiveness of applications on self-injury, 4 on depression and anxiety, 1 on impulsivity, and 2 on adaptive strategies. Overall, mobile phone applications were associated with reductions in suicidal ideation scores at post intervention, and enhancement of adaptive skills; however, no evidence of reduction was reported in impulsivity after use of applications. Conclusion: Despite the differences in studies, this review showed that the use of mobile applications had an overall positive effect on reducing the risk of suicide and improving performance and health of patients.

Keywords: Clinical trials; Effectiveness; Smartphone application; Suicide prevention.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Organization WH. Preventing suicide: A global imperative: World Health Organization; 2014.
    1. Organization WH. Mental health action plan 2013–2020. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2013. This document was produced in response to the World Health Assembly Resolutions WHA66 8 and WHA65 4, provides the necessary framework for improving mental health globally from the government to individual level, and provides a strong rationale for collaborative care. 2014.
    1. Tadros G, Jolley D. The stigma of suicide. BJPsych. 2001;179(2):178. - PubMed
    1. Ericsson A. Ericsson mobility report: On the pulse of the Networked Society. Ericsson, Sweden, Tech Rep EAB-14 2015;61078.
    1. Luxton DD, McCann RA, Bush NE, Mishkind MC, Reger GM. mHealth for mental health: Integrating smartphone technology in behavioral healthcare. Prof Psychol Res Pr. 2011;42(6):505.

LinkOut - more resources