INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) Study
Phase: NA
Conditions: Diabetes, Depression, Cardiovascular Risk Factor
Sponsor: Emory University

 
 
INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes 
treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) Study 
 
 
 
Trial Protocol 
IRB00064913 
 
 
 
Version 2.2 – 28 July 2018 

INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) Study:  Trial Protocol 
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 INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT 
(INDEPENDENT) Study:  
Trial Protocol 
Contents 
Abbreviations and Acronyms ................................................................................................................. 4 
Study Personnel ..................................................................................................................................... 5 
1 
Study Objective .............................................................................................................................. 6 
1.1 
Primary Outcome .............................................................................................................................. 6 
1.1.1 
Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................. 6 
1.2 
Secondary Outcomes ........................................................................................................................ 6 
2 
Background .................................................................................................................................... 6 
2.1 
Burdens of Mental and Cardio-metabolic Illnesses Globally and in India ........................................ 6 
2.2 
Gaps in Implementation .................................................................................................................... 7 
2.3 
Rationale for Integrated Care............................................................................................................ 7 
2.4 
Experiences in Integrated Care and Preliminary Data ...................................................................... 8 
2.5 
The INDEPENDENT Study .................................................................................................................. 8 
3 
Study Design .................................................................................................................................. 9 
3.1 
Study Timeline ................................................................................................................................... 9 
4 
Selection and Enrollment of Participants ......................................................................................... 9 
4.1 
Sample Size ........................................................................................................................................ 9 
4.2 
Participant Screening ...................................................................................................................... 10 
4.3 
Eligibility: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria ...................................................................................... 10 
4.4 
Informed Consent ........................................................................................................................... 11 
4.5 
Randomization and Blinding ........................................................................................................... 11 
5 
Study Interventions ...................................................................................................................... 12 
5.1 
Program of Care for Intervention Arm Participants ........................................................................ 12 
5.2 
Intervention Visits ........................................................................................................................... 15 
5.3 
Program of Care for Control Arm Participants ................................................................................ 16 
6 
Study Procedures and Measures ................................................................................................... 16 
6.1 
Schedule of Evaluations .................................................................................................................. 18 
6.2 
Evaluation Schedule ........................................................................................................................ 19 
6.2.1 
Screening (Pre-randomization) ............................................................................................... 20 
6.2.2 
Follow-up Study Visits (0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months post-randomization) ....................... 21 

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7 
Study Participant Risk, Privacy and Burden ................................................................................... 22 
7.1 Expected Risks for Participants ..................................................................................................... 22 
7.1.1 
Measures to Minimize Risk ..................................................................................................... 22 
7.2 
Protection of Participant Privacy .................................................................................................... 23 
7.3 
Participant Burden .......................................................................................................................... 24 
8 
Study Benefits .............................................................................................................................. 25 
8.1 
Potential Benefits of Participation .................................................................................................. 25 
8.1.1 
Importance of Knowledge to be Gained ................................................................................. 26 
9 
Study Monitoring Plan .................................................................................................................. 26 
9.1 
Data Safety and Monitoring Board ................................................................................................. 26 
9.2 
Specification of Safety Parameters ................................................................................................. 27 
9.3 
Monitoring Procedures ................................................................................................................... 27 
9.4 
Unanticipated Problems .................................................................................................................. 28 
9.5 
Adverse Events and Serious Adverse Events ................................................................................... 28 
9.5.1 
Classification of Adverse Events .............................................................................................. 28 
9.5.2 
Serious Adverse Events ........................................................................................................... 29 
9.5.3 
Reporting of AEs and SAEs ...................................................................................................... 30 
9.6 
Protocol Deviations and Protocol Violations .................................................................................. 30 
9.6.1 
Protocol Deviations ................................................................................................................. 30 
9.6.2 
Protocol Violations .................................................................................................................. 31 
9.6.3 
Reporting of Protocol Deviations and Protocol Violations ..................................................... 31 
9.7 
Non-Compliance .............................................................................................................................. 31 
9.7.1 
Serious Non-compliance ......................................................................................................... 32 
9.7.2 
Continuing Non-compliance .................................................................................................... 32 
9.7.3 
Reporting of Serious Non-compliance .................................................................................... 32 
9.8 
Criteria for Discontinuation of Intervention ................................................................................... 32 
9.9 
Data Safety ...................................................................................................................................... 33 
10 
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................... 33 
10.1 
Primary and Secondary Health Outcomes ...................................................................................... 33 
10.2 
Economic Analyses .......................................................................................................................... 34 
11 
Study Coordination ...................................................................................................................... 35 
11.1 
Coordination Plans .......................................................................................................................... 35 
11.2 
Laboratories .................................................................................................................................... 35 
11.3 
Administrative Clauses .................................................................................................................... 36 
Appendix A – PHQ-9 Checklist .............................................................................................................. 37 

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Appendix B – SCL 20 Questionnaire ...................................................................................................... 38 
SCL-20 ................................................................................................................................................. 38 
References .......................................................................................................................................... 39 
Tables 
Table 1: Components of Integrated Depression and Diabetes Care ............................................................... 13 
Table 2: Care Program: Schedule of Follow-ups for Intervention Arm Participants ....................................... 15 
Table 3: Study Procedures and Measures for All Participants ........................................................................ 17 
Table 4: Schedule of Evaluations ..................................................................................................................... 18 
Figures 
Figure 1: Usual Care vs. Intervention .............................................................................................................. 12 
Figure 2: Intervention Arm Participant Flow ................................................................................................... 14 
 
 

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Abbreviations and Acronyms 
AE 
Adverse Event 
ACE-i 
Angiotensin Converting Enzyme – Inhibitors 
AIIMS 
All India Institute of Medical Sciences 
AUDIT-10 
Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (10 item) 
BMI 
Body Mass Index 
BP 
Blood Pressure 
CC 
Care Coordinator 
CARRS 
Center for Cardio-metabolic Risk Reduction in South Asia 
CVD 
Cardiovascular Disease 
DAST-10 
Drug Abuse Screening Test (10 item) 
DKA 
Diabetic ketoacidosis 
DSMB 
Data Safety Monitoring Board 
DTSQ 
Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire 
ECG 
Electrocardiogram 
DS-EHR  
Decision Support and Electronic Health Record System 
FBG 
Fasting Blood Glucose 
HbA1c 
Glycated Hemoglobin 
HDL 
High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol 
HUI-3 
Health Utility Index Mark-3 
IEC 
Institutional Ethics Committee 
IRB 
Institutional Review Board 
LDL 
Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol 
LAR 
Legally Acceptable Representative 
MDRF 
Madras Diabetes Research Foundation 
MoCA 
Montreal Cognitive Assessment 
PHQ-9 
Patient Health Questionnaire (9 item) 
SAE 
Serious Adverse Event 
SBP 
Systolic Blood Pressure 
SCL-20 
Symptoms Checklist (20 item) 
SDSCA 
Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities 
WHO 
World Health Organization 
 
 

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Study Personnel 
Madras Diabetes Research Foundation Team (Chennai, India) 
Viswanathan Mohan, MD, FRCP, PhD, DSc, FNASc* 
Anjana Mohan, MD, PhD 
Emory University Team (Atlanta, United States) 
Mohammed K. Ali, MBChB, MSc, MBA* 
K.M. Venkat Narayan, MD, MSc, MBA, FRCP 
Neil Mehta, PhD, MA, MSc 
Paul Ciechanowski, MD, MPH 
University of Washington Team (Seattle, United States) 
Lydia Chwastiak, MD, MPH* 
Deepa Rao, PhD, MA 
Jurgen Unutzer, MD, MPH, MA 
Cecilia Margaret, MD, PhD 
Clinic Research Site Investigators 
Dr Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Clinic, Chennai: 
Viswanathan Mohan, MD, FRCP, PhD, FNASc – Lead Site Investigator and Lead Site Diabetologist 
Radha Shankar, MD – Lead Site Psychiatrist 
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi: 
Nikhil Tandon, MD, PhD, FRCP –Lead Site Investigator and Lead Site Diabetologist 
Rajesh Sagar, MD – Lead Site Psychiatrist 
Endocrine and Diabetes Center, Visakhapatnam: 
G. Sridhar, MD, DM – Lead Site Investigator and Lead Site Diabetologist 
B. Sarath, MD – Lead Site Psychiatrist 
Diacon Hospital, Bangalore: 
S. R. Aravind, MD, DM – Lead Site Investigator and Lead Site Diabetologist 
Pooja Rai K., MBBS, DPM – Lead Site Psychiatrist 
---------------------- 
* Co-Principal Investigators 
 
Study Title: 
 
INtegrating DEPrEssioN and Diabetes treatmENT (INDEPENDENT) Study 
Coordinating Centre: 
 
Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Chennai, India 
Poongothai Subramani, PhD – Lead Study Coordinator 
Supported by: 
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institutes of Health, USA 
Award # R01MH100390-01 
Registration: 
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02022111 
 
 

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1 
Study Objective 
The objective of this study is to evaluate the sustained effectiveness of an integrated depression and 
diabetes care intervention (health worker-led participant-activation and decision-supported team reviews) 
compared to enhanced usual care (notifying the participant’s usual provider of depressive symptoms) for 
diabetic participants in India who have clinically-significant depressive symptoms (Patient Health 
Questionnaire [PHQ-9] ≥10) AND one or more poorly-controlled CVD risk factor (HbA1c ≥8.0%, SBP ≥140 
mmHg, or LDL-c ≥130 mg/dl) in a randomized controlled implementation trial of 400 participants at four 
clinic research sites over 36 months (12-month active intervention with 24-month extended phase to 
evaluate sustainability). 
1.1 
Primary Outcome 
The sustained (24 month) difference in the proportion of trial participants in each arm achieving combined 
improvements in depressive symptoms and CVD risk factors (≥50% reduction in the Symptoms Checklist-20 
items [SCL-20] score AND one or more of the following: ≥0.5% reduction in HbA1c, ≥5 mmHg reduction in 
SBP, or ≥10 mg/dl reduction in LDL-c). 
1.1.1 Hypothesis 
Compared to the control group, a higher proportion of intervention participants (30% vs. 15%) will achieve 
combined improvements in depressive symptoms and CVD risk factor levels (≥50% reduction in SCL-20 
score AND one or more of the following: ≥0.5% reduction in HbA1c, ≥5 mmHg reduction in SBP, or ≥10 
mg/dl reduction in LDL-c) at 24 months. 
1.2 
Secondary Outcomes 
To evaluate global, individual, and economic effects of our multi-condition strategy, we will report a 
number of secondary outcomes for each study arm at 12, 24 and 36 months: 
1) measures of “common effect,” i.e., whether the intervention had a similar beneficial effect on all 
four main targets (SCL-20, HbA1c, SBP, LDL-c);1 
2) proportion of participants achieving all 3 CVD risk factor targets in the two groups; 
3) mean reductions in four main targets (SCL-20 score; HbA1c; SBP; LDL-c);  
4) proportion of participants achieving treatment targets or significant reductions in individual 
outcomes (reduced depressive symptoms [≥50% reduction in SCL-20], glycemic control [HbA1c 
≤7.0% or ≥0.5% reduction], BP control [SBP ≤130 mmHg or ≥5 mmHg reduction], lipid control [LDL 
≤100 mg/dl or ≥10 mg/dl reduction]); 
5) mean utility, quality of life, and participant treatment satisfaction scores; and  
6) mean health expenditures and within-trial cost-utility. 
2 
Background 
2.1 
Burdens of Mental and Cardio-metabolic Illnesses Globally and in India 
Mental health conditions (depression, psychoses, substance abuse) are associated with huge morbidity, 
social, and economic burdens;2 and depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide.2 Diabetes 
accounted for 4.6 million deaths in 20113 and CVD caused a third of global mortality.2 

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Mental health and cardio-metabolic illnesses (e.g., diabetes) also interact and there are several large meta-
analyses showing bi-directional relationships between them.2 For example, depression is a risk factor for 
development of type 2 diabetes,4, 5 adversely affects self-care for diabetes,4, 6 and worsens glycemic 
control7 and quality of life;2 and diabetes is associated with increased risk of developing depression.8 In 
addition, risks of debilitating complications and mortality are all compounded when cardio-metabolic and 
mental illnesses co-exist or are poorly controlled.2 
Depression affects 12.1% to 15.1 of adults2 and diabetes affects over 65 million people in India.2 Prevalence 
of depression is higher among those with pre-existing CVD risks (e.g., 19.7% of people with diabetes)2 or 
CVD complications (e.g., neuropathy).9, 10 Therefore, the absolute number of those affected by both 
conditions is sizeable and constitutes a group at elevated risk and in whom intervention may have 
considerable synergistic benefits.2 In particular, better organized, more effective, and more responsive care 
delivery may reduce morbidity and mortality.2 
2.2 
Gaps in Implementation 
For most cardio-metabolic diseases, current evidence-based guidelines recommend comprehensive 
medical management (i.e., treating all CVD risk factors together)2 combined with lifestyle modifications 
(regular physical activity, healthier diet, tobacco avoidance and cessation).2 Mental health conditions such 
as depression also require long-term, participant-empowered, and self-guided care11 in collaboration with 
providers.12 However, this type of comprehensive care is limited by prohibitive costs, weak health care 
systems, poor coordination, and shortage of skilled personnel, especially in low-and-middle-income 
countries. In India, where depression, diabetes, and CVD remain under-diagnosed and sub-optimally 
treated as individual conditions and incombination,2≥60% of people with diabetes are not routinely 
achieving risk factor control targets and care for people with mental health disorders has been described as 
generally suboptimal,2 with anti-depressants used by only half of all eligible subjects. 
2.3 
Rationale for Integrated Care 
Both mental health and cardio-metabolic diseases are chronic, complex, progressive, and costly to care for.2 
Identification is a key initiating step towards clinical- and self-care for these conditions, and in both 
behavioral activation and motivation are critical for adherence to management plans. In addition, care is 
hampered by major barriers at the patient (e.g., stigma, motivation),2 provider (e.g., clinical inertia to 
intensify treatment), and system (e.g., organization of care) levels, all of which interact with each other.  
Given the similarities in course of disease and barriers to care, as well as the adverse interactions between 
these groups of conditions, integrated care that combines mental health management with cardio-metabolic 
risk reduction may provide efficient opportunities to reduce morbidity and improve physical and social 
functioning among patients experiencing these conditions together.2 This is particularly important as an 
opportunity to identify previously-unrecognized depressive symptoms among people with diabetes as they 
may be contributing to poor control and fueling a vicious cycle. There are data to indicate that optimizing 
therapy for depression, HbA1c, SBP, and LDL-c together is associated with better outcomes than focusing on 
any one condition alone.2 As an example of how this works in practice, exercise, weight loss, and better 
glycemic control — which are routinely employed for diabetes care— also lower depressive symptom 
burdens in people affected by both diabetes and depression.2 
The gaps in implementation of evidence-based recommendations may be due to low awareness of one’s 
conditions or what to do about them or low motivation at the patient-level, while at care provider and 
systems levels, lack of decision-support tools limit implementation of evidence-based guidelines (e.g., 
intensification plus follow-up of treatment regimens). The evidence suggests that targeting different levels 

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of barriers to care at the same time (e.g., patient motivation and provider inertia) using patient-centered 
care models2 can enhance health outcomes and satisfaction for people with diabetes and depression.2 
2.4 
Experiences in Integrated Care and Preliminary Data 
Drs. Katon and Unutzer are pioneers in structuring care for multiple conditions (stepped-care interventions 
led by trained nurses). They have developed a chronic disease-focused depression treatment model2 that: 
 
targets symptoms of depression, motivation, and hopelessness with medication and behavioral 
therapy; 
 
targets CVD risk factor control by optimizing medication intensification and helping patients  self-
manage their conditions better (empowerment, coping mechanisms, and overcoming perceived 
barriers to self-care); and 
 
helps patients adopt positive self-management behaviors (e.g., smoking cessation, medication 
adherence). 
This model of care has been associated with a significantly enhanced response to depression treatment as 
well as enhanced medical control of diabetes (better adherence; reductions in depressive symptoms; more 
depression-free days;2 intervention costs offset by savings for medical care;2 and sustained incremental 
improvements in HbA1c (-0.58%), SBP (-5.1mmHg), and LDL-c (-6.9mg/dl) compared to usual care controls).2  
Importantly, these findings have stimulated adoption of collaborative care models by health payers and 
managed care providers in the United States (US), advocacy by major health agencies, and similar research 
in other countries.2 This integrated care model emphasizes how combined depression and medical therapies 
can increase each other’s benefits. 
The INDEPENDENT study leverages previous work in this area, merging and adapting models of integrated 
care delivery from the US (TEAMCare)2 and India (CARRS Translation Trial)13 to improve psychosocial and 
metabolic outcomes, respectively, among  participants in India who have diabetes and poorly controlled CVD 
risks and are also suffering from depressive symptoms. The study builds on existing Indo-US collaborations 
and a robust platform of information technology (experiences of developing decision-support software), 
skilled teams, trial logistics expertise, and local expertise. 
2.5 
The INDEPENDENT Study 
This study will develop and test an integrated depression and diabetes care model in four ambulatory 
diabetes clinics in India. Our evaluation plan will generate usable evidence regarding effectiveness, quality 
of life, and costs.2 
The collaborative care intervention in this study will incorporate unique aspects of Indian culture gathered 
from focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with participants, family members, and health care 
providers at all clinic research sites. We will endeavor to make the intervention more participant-centered, 
develop locally-understandable educational materials for participants in India, and identify ways to 
overcome stigma of mental health disorders while facilitating trustful therapeutic relationships between 
nurse managers and the participants and their families.  
Several additional benefits will emerge from this study, including: (a) identifying unrecognized depressive 
symptoms among several hundred diabetic patients and working with their regular providers to manage 
this appropriately; (b) training a cadre of care coordinators (CC) who can motivate better self-care for high-
risk individuals; (c) offering a toolbox of therapeutic options (family-centered or other culturally-sensitive 
activation models such as spirituality, yoga, or meditation) in order to customize care according to the 
individual’s preferences; and (d) developing software technology that prioritizes participants for review, 

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prompts treatment plan recommendations and modifications, and makes case review meetings efficient by 
providing an overview of key participant indicators in one place (the “dashboard”). 
3 
Study Design 
The study is a four site, single-blind, individually randomized controlled implementation trial. Blinding 
outcome assessments and randomization will limit biases and evenly distribute participant characteristics. 
3.1 
Study Timeline 
INDEPENDENT Study 
 
 
Activities 
Year 1 
Year 2 
Year 3 
Year 4 
Year 5 
Year 6 
Design and Planning 
 
 
Refining intervention components 
 
 
 
 
 
Recruitment of care coordinators and training 
 
 
 
 
 
Installation of decision-support software and on-site 
training 
 
 
 
 
 
Data Collection 
 
 
Participant screening, recruitment, enrollment, 
randomization 
 
 
 
 
 
12-month intervention and 24-month follow-up of 
participants (Total participation = 36-months) 
 
 
 
 
 
Analysis 
 
 
Data analysis and reporting of outcomes 
 
 
 
 
4 
Selection and Enrollment of Participants 
4.1 
Sample Size 
The study is powered on between-arm differences in the proportion achieving the primary outcome 
[combined depression and CVD risk factor improvements (≥50% reduction in SCL-20 and ≥1 of: ≥0.5% 
reduction in HbA1c or ≥5mmHg reduction in SBP or ≥10mg/dl reduction in LDL-c)] at 24 months post-
randomization. The sample size estimation is guided by: (1) studies in India 14, 15 and elsewhere 16, 17 
showing that <50% of all people with diagnosed diabetes routinely achieve single or multiple CVD risk 
factor targets; and (2) published results by Katon 18 demonstrating a 30% between-group absolute 
difference [60% (TEAMCare) vs. 30% (usual care)] in proportions of subjects achieving ≥50% reduction in 
SCL-20 score at 12 months and 15% absolute difference [37% vs. 22%] in the proportion of subjects 
achieving significant reductions or target control for all three CVD risk factors [HbA1c, SBP, LDL-c]. It is 
anticipated that a 15% absolute difference [30% of intervention arm participants will achieve combined 
and sustained reductions in depressive symptoms plus ≥1 CVD risk factor at 24-months post-
randomization, compared to 15% of usual care participants]. Using a two-sample test of equality of 
proportions and a normal approximation with a continuity correction in Stata Version 12.0., we calculated 
that n=268 provides 80% power, and n=335 allows additional 20% for loss to follow-up. The aim is to 
recruit an enhanced sample of 360 participants, assigned equally to the two arms with the goal of 
randomizing 120 participants across the four clinic sites.  

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4.2 
Participant Screening 
The population for this study will be Asian Indian, clinic-attending diabetes participants 35 years of age or 
older, with depressive symptoms (a PHQ-9 score ≥10) and at least one poorly controlled CVD risk factor 
(HbA1c ≥ 8.0%, SBP ≥ 140 mmHg, or LDL-c ≥ 130 mg/dl). 
Project coordinators at each diabetes clinic research site will review existing electronic records or paper 
charts to identify participants with diabetes and one or more poorly controlled CVD risk factor (HbA1c 
≥8.0%, SBP ≥140 mmHg, or LDL-c ≥130 mg/dl) in the previous six months. The coordinator will contact 
these participants and invite them to visit the clinic or complete the initial screening assessment by phone. 
During this interaction, participants will provide verbal consent, and respond to the nine-item PHQ-9 
depression scale (see Appendix A) as a screener for depressive symptoms and additional questions to 
identify presence of other exclusion criteria (recent cardiovascular events or life-threatening cancer or 
kidney disease). Based on the prevalence of depression among people with diabetes and previous studies,2 
we anticipate screening 7,500 participants to recruit and randomize 400 participants. 
The PHQ-9 helps ascertain presence of depression symptoms and functional impairments, and provides a 
gauge of depression severity (0-3 scoring for each item). The PHQ-9 is based on criteria for major 
depressive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) and has high 
sensitivity and specificity for depression symptoms.2 This scale is an open source tool, has been translated 
into multiple languages,19 and has been used extensively and successfully in our past US and India studies.2 
PHQ-9 scores ≥10 have been shown to be associated with chronicity of depression46 and predictive of 
adverse outcomes (dementia, mortality).2 Individuals with scores of 10-12 benefit from intervention as 
much as those with scores of 14-15.2 
4.3 Eligibility: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria 
Individuals who are eligible after the initial screening (PHQ-9 score ≥10 indicating newly-identified with 
depressive symptoms and one or more poorly-controlled CVD risk factors in the previous 6 months) will 
have study details fully explained to them and be  invited to the clinic for written informed consent and 
complete eligibility testing. During this final phase of screening, a detailed medical history; questionnaires 
to rule out psychoses, alcohol and substance use, and reduced cognitive function [e.g., dementia]; physical 
examination; and laboratory tests will be conducted by a blinded outcomes assessment officer (likely to be 
a physician or research nurse at each site). For ALL participants who screen positive for co-morbid diabetes 
and depression, their status will be explained to them. The consent form will include approval to notify the 
participant’s usual care provider of this co-morbid status. 
To be eligible for the study, participants must meet all of the following inclusion criteria in the final phase 
of screening: (1) age ≥35 years; (2) confirmed diagnosis of diabetes (documented in the charts); (3) PHQ-9 
score ≥10; (4) one or more poorly-controlled CVD risk factors (HbA1c ≥8.0%, SBP ≥140 mmHg, or LDL ≥130 
mg/dl) regardless of medications used; and (5) willingness to consent to randomization. 
Individuals will be excluded from participation if any of the following are present: (1) a “3” is reported for 
the PHQ-9 questionnaire suicide item (item #9), which reflects very high suicide risk, or the evaluating 
physician deems that the patient is suffering severe depression requiring immediate referral; (2) currently 
under a psychiatrist’s care or using antipsychotic or mood stabilizer medication or have diagnosed 
dementia or bipolar disorder or schizophrenia; (3) have diabetes secondary to uncommon causes (e.g., 
chronic pancreatitis); (4) are pregnant or lactating; (5) had a documented CVD event (MI, stroke) in past 12 
months; (6) have end-stage renal disease (on dialysis or requiring a transplant); (7) have malignancy or life-
threatening disease with death probable in 3 years; (8) currently abuse alcohol or drugs; (9) current chronic 
steroid use; or (10) no fixed address or contact details. Any participant reporting a “2” on the PHQ-9 suicide 

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item (item #9) will be given a self-harm risk assessment and if considered too high risk, the participant will 
be excluded from enrollment in the trial and referred for more intensive psychiatric care. 
4.4 Informed Consent 
Most of the participants will be literate in the local language or English (90.3% literacy in Chennai, 86.3% in 
Delhi, 80.5% in urban Andhra Pradesh, and 75.5% in Bangalore)20 so the participant information sheet (PIS) 
and informed consent form will be available in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and English. For those who 
cannot read, study details will be explained and informed consent obtained by thumbprint signature and 
recording verbal consent in the presence of a friend or family member. 
The information sheet and consent form will be given to the potential participant and details of both 
documents will be explained by the consenter (the blinded outcomes assessor), including the purpose of the 
trial, screening and study procedures, benefits and risks, confidentiality terms, rights of the participant, and 
trial contact information and any concerns or questions will be addressed. The consenter will ask questions 
to ensure that the potential participant understands the PIS and consent form information. The potential 
participant will be given as much time as needed to review the documents and will be allowed to take them 
home to discuss with family or friends.  
Participation is purely voluntary and there will be no coercion by the consenter. Participants will not receive 
material compensation to join the study. All participants will be assured that they have the right to voluntarily 
withdraw from the study at any time and that withdrawal will not affect their future medical care. 
Participants will also be told that their diabetes care provider will be notified of their depressive symptoms. 
If the individual agrees to participate in the trial, one copy of the signed consent form will be signed by the 
participant and the Lead Site Investigator. For those who cannot read, a thumbprint and proxy signature by 
a legally acceptable representative (LAR) will be obtained. In addition, a recording will be made of the 
verbal consent process. In the absence of a LAR, a literate third party (non-study staff) may act as witness. 
One photocopy of the signed consent form will be given to the participant to keep and another copy will be 
kept in locked storage at each clinic research site. 
These consent procedures have been reviewed and approved by each site’s ethics committee (Madras 
Diabetes Research Foundation [Chennai], All India Institute of Medical Sciences [Delhi], Endocrine and 
Diabetes Center [Visakhapatnam], Diacon Hospital [Bangalore]) as well as the institutional review board 
(IRB) of Emory University.  
4.5 Randomization and Blinding 
To prevent “contamination” (i.e., contact between care coordinators [CC] and subjects randomized to usual 
care), all baseline eligibility testing and six-monthly outcome assessments will be completed by an 
independent outcomes assessor who is blinded to the participant’s trial arm assignment.21 This blinded 
outcomes assessor will document findings from evaluations by entering them into the web-enhanced 
decision-supported electronic health record (DS-EHR) system. The software will automatically interface with 
an interactive web response system for computer-generated randomization. For individuals randomized to 
the intervention, the DS-EHR will automatically email the CC that a new participant has been assigned to the 
intervention, instruct the CC to contact the participant for the initiation visit, and will give the CC access to the 
participant’s record. For control participants, the system will generate a record (not accessible by CCs), which 
will be updated at six-monthly evaluations by the blinded outcomes assessor (Figure 1). The system will 
remind the blinded outcomes assessor to contact each participant (whether control or intervention arm) 
when their six-monthly visit is due and provide a 10-week window of time (four weeks before and six weeks 
after the exact 6 months elapsing) for data to be entered regarding that visit. 

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As mentioned, the participant’s symptoms and severity of depression, as well as the levels of control of 
cardio-metabolic risk factors, will be reported to their usual care provider. We will create information tools 
that can help usual care providers who are not familiar with management of depression. Therefore, the 
usual care (control) group will, in effect, receive enhanced usual care, assuming their provider proactively 
manages the psychological and metabolic illnesses concurrently. 
 
 
Figure 1: Usual Care vs. Intervention 
5 
Study Interventions 
Participants randomized to the intervention will receive care coordinator-led and decision-supported care. 
Participants randomized to the control arm will receive the existing standard care and treatment for their 
diabetes that is provided routinely at each site with the exception that their care provider will be notified 
regarding their depressive symptoms. 
5.1 
Program of Care for Intervention Arm Participants 
Participants randomized to the intervention will receive care coordinator-led and decision-supported care 
(Figure 1) comprised of: (1) behavioral activation to motivate effective self-care; (2) proactive follow-up 
(helping participants solve problems and adhere to medications); (3) evidence-based care prompts that 
modify therapy responsively; and (4) team-based reviews to check treatment adjustments and ensure 
accountability (Table 1). This integrated multi-condition care model is focused on improving patient self-
care and facilitating better monitoring and treatment intensification by provider care teams. Each of the 
components described is a part of the participant’s continued progress reviews and follow up (Figure 2). 

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Table 1: Components of Integrated Depression and Diabetes Care 
Activation of participants 
GOAL = stimulate self-care 
Meet to identify measurable goals 
Collaborate with participant’s family to problem-solve 
Care Coordinator-led 
coordination 
GOAL = support self-care 
Proactive and individualized follow-up 
Empower and motivate adherence 
Web-enhanced decision-
support software 
GOAL = support clinical decision-making 
Track participant health indicators 
Prioritize participants (new, poorly-controlled) for review 
Prompt intensification of medication regimens 
Multi-disciplinary team 
treat-to-goal reviews 
GOAL = enhance care continuity and accountability 
Active monitoring of PHQ-9, HbA1c, SBP, LDL-c 
Responsive adjustments of medication regimens based on software prompts and clinical 
judgment 
Better Self-care: Participant Education and Behavioral Activation –Participant education materials and 
behavioral activation techniques that are adapted for the Indian population will be used to stimulate and 
motivate sustained and effective self-care. Behavioral activation strategies are brief, structured 
psychological interventions that are based on extensive theoretical2 and clinical literature 2, can be 
delivered by non-specialist providers, can be combined with antidepressant medications, and emphasize 
reinforcing behaviors to produce improvements in thoughts, mood, and quality of life.22 
Supporting Self-Care: Proactive Follow-up by Care Coordinators (CC) – We will train two or more Care 
Coordinators at each of the diabetes clinic research sites in enhanced depression-diabetes care 
(INDEPENDENT care). Individuals eligible to perform the tasks of the CC will be educators, social workers, 
nutritionists, psychologists, or lay health workers who have good communication, motivation, and 
organizational skills. The CC will complete training and certification in multi-condition care (led by the 
University of Washington team): 
 
General instruction regarding all aspects of the intervention 
 
Refresher courses in follow-up and management of high-risk diabetes  
 
Specific instruction (didactic and role play) in behavioral activation and motivational and brief 
negotiation strategies 
 
Practicing cases under observation 
Once trained, CCs will: (a) meet with intervention arm participants and collaboratively set treatment goals; 
(b) provide verbal education regarding diabetes and depression self-care (self-monitoring; adherence to 
medication, diet, exercise; and cessation of smoking); (c) use motivational interviewing (therapeutic 
approach designed to help individuals explore and resolve ambivalence and foster commitment to 
behavior changes in a non-confrontational manner) and self-efficacy enhancement strategies (e.g., 
structured feedback) to promote monitoring of depressive symptoms, glucose, and blood pressure; (d) 
proactively follow-up participants (phone calls or clinic visits) to externally monitor depressive symptoms 
(regular PHQ-9’s) and CVD indicators (laboratory and home monitoring); (e) enter updated participant 
indicators into the DS-EHR (as “interim visits”) and utilize software outputs to prioritize participants for 
review; (g) convene case review meetings with supervising physicians; (h) communicate physician-
recommended treatment changes to participants and their usual care providers; and (i) update the DS-EHR 
based on whether the case review meeting agreed with the physician and software system’s care prompt 
or not, and provide a reason. CCs will attend re-training meetings on behavioral activation, motivational 
interviewing, and brief negotiation strategies with members of the study team on an as-needed basis. 

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Oversight by Psychiatrist and Diabetologist Reviews – At each site, a senior psychiatrist and 
endocrinologist/diabetologist will be involved in weekly or bi-weekly offline (participants do not attend) 
case review meetings with CCs (Figure 2). Case review meetings will be structured and involve discussion 
of all participants. The DS-EHR “dashboard” of participant indicators will help identify participants whose 
depression, glucose, BP, or lipid levels remain poorly controlled (for example, elevated PHQ-9 scores 6 
weeks or more after most recent treatment changes, or continued poor HbA1c, glucose, BP, or LDL-c 
control in past 4 weeks). Using the most recent indicators in the DS-EHR “dashboard” and current 
therapies, the DS-EHR will provide care plan prompts (based on evidence-based algorithms developed by 
senior physicians in our team) to usual care physicians when the CC and participant visit the usual care 
physician. The recommended treatment changes (initiation, increases, or simplification of medication 
regimens, or higher or lower frequency of follow-up or behavioral therapy) can be accepted or modified by 
the usual care physician. The usual care physician’s care plan will be communicated to participants by the 
CC. Within 14 days of this, the care prompt and the physician’s treatment plan will be reviewed at the 
weekly or bi-weekly case review meeting and a recommendation will be made as to whether to continue 
with or modify treatment. If the case review team recommends modifying the treatment the CC will 
communicate this to the usual care physician who has the ability to accept or modify the care plan. Any 
change in the care plan will be communicated by CCs to participants. It is the responsibility of the 
participant to obtain new medications if necessary. 
 
Figure 2: Intervention Arm Participant Flow 
Supporting Case Reviews and Treatment Intensification: decision-support electronic health record (DS-
EHR) –The DS-EHR will store participant indicators, produce reporting “dashboards” to monitor single 
participants and whole clinic populations, and provide care prompts based on an evidence-based 
treatment algorithm. The DS-EHR has: (1) a summary dashboard (updated PHQ-9, HbA1c, FBG, LDL-c, SBP, 
and DBP on a single screen) to monitor participants’ progress; (2) depression care and diabetes care 
prompts derived from algorithms based on recommended guidelines, Indian formularies, and help from 
the research study investigators; (3) functionality that permits checking single participant and clinic-level 

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indicators for case review meetings; (4) processes that promote accountability (physicians must justify 
rejecting electronic care prompts); (5) accountability by case review members of whether care prompts 
were appropriate and why or why not; and (6) separate access controls for CCs and outcomes assessors at 
each clinic to ensure outcomes assessors are blinded to the participants’ intervention status.  
5.2 
Intervention Visits 
Initial visit: CCs will schedule a consultation with every intervention arm participant and use a semi-
structured interview to: explain CC roles; build rapport; get a detailed history of depression, diabetes, 
current and prior treatments; assess barriers to care; set measurable goals with participants; and provide 
educational materials. The CC will introduce behavioral activation2 to engage participants regarding their 
self-care. For example, they might discuss self-management behaviors (e.g., increased physical activity), 
graded behavioral goals to promote self-efficacy, mood improvements, and better CVD risk factor control. 
CCs will encourage participants to adopt responsibility for intermittently monitoring BP and glucose (where 
very poorly controlled, clinics will provide glucometers and/or home BP cuffs).  
At follow-up (“interim”) visits (which may be in-person or over the phone), CCs (Figure 2) will add guided 
activities, self-monitoring using activity and mood rating records which help participants make the connection 
between behaviors and changes in mood; “booster” sessions (delivered by telephone, participants are 
trained in how to maintain self-care behaviors and recognize medical illness as a stressor). Table 2 shows an 
example follow-up schedule. Frequency of participant contact will depend on individual risk. Any of these 
interim visits, data collected from participants in the form of completed PHQ-9 scores, or blood glucose, BP, 
or lipid levels will be entered into the DS-EHR, which will update the participants’ record.  
Table 2: Care Program: Schedule of Follow-ups for Intervention Arm Participants 
Week 
Medication Intervention 
Behavioral Intervention 
Community 
Linkage  
0 
Baseline Interview and randomization 
 
 
1 
Initial visit with CC and family; 
evaluation of control, medications, 
and adherence. 
CC provides rationale for behavioral 
activation; introduces activity 
monitoring. 
 
2 
Follow-up visit with CC after physician 
reviews (for new or modification of 
existing prescriptions). 
CC helps participant prioritize self-
care goals/behaviors; 1st behavioral 
experiment  
CC facilitates 
linkages to 
community 
resources (e.g., 
counseling, 
rehabilitation, 
or behavior 
change 
programs). 
3-7 
Follow-up visits with CC (in-person or 
telephone): review of PHQ-9, CVD risk 
factor control, and adherence. 
Review of behavioral activation 
progress. Continued motivational 
enhancement and behavioral 
activation (guided activity). 
8 
Follow-up visit with diabetes 
physician – If depressive symptoms or 
poor control persists, more intensive 
psychotherapies or doses.  
Review of behavioral activation 
progress. Continued motivational 
enhancement and behavioral 
activation (guided activity). 
Scheduled 
follow-up CC 
telephone 
calls. 
10-16 
As needed follow-up visits with CC (in-
person or phone): review of control 
and adherence. 
Review of behavioral activation 
progress. Continued motivation; 
behavioral activation. 
25-52 
Monthly tailored follow-up (in-person 
or phone): support maintenance / 
relapse prevention. 
Individual booster behavioral 
activation sessions. 

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Each intervention participant will be enrolled in the integrated depression and diabetes care program 
(proactive follow-up and case reviews) for 12 months. All participants (intervention and control) will undergo 
outcomes assessments for months 0-36 (visits at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months following randomization). 
The focus of the 13-36 month assessments is to evaluate if effects of the intervention are sustained. 
5.3 
Program of Care for Control Arm Participants 
Participants randomized to the control arm will receive the existing standard care and treatment for their 
diabetes that is provided routinely at each site and their care provider will be notified regarding their 
depressive symptoms. As mentioned in Section 6.2, the physicians treating the control arm will also be 
provided with trainings regarding identification and care for people with depression. The control 
participants will have no contact with CCs and will only be contacted at 6-monthly intervals for assessment 
by the blinded outcomes assessor.  
6 
Study Procedures and Measures 
Participants in both arms will be invited for outcomes assessments (“study visits” at 0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 
month time-points) by a blinded outcomes assessor at each site to collect biochemical and participant-
reported measures (Table 4). Biochemical measures (glucose, HbA1c, cholesterol subfractions) will be 
collected via blood draws while BP and anthropometric measures will be collected using an automated 
sphygmomanometer, weighing scale, tape measure, and clinic-based stadiometers. Participant-reported 
outcomes will be collected via questionnaires.  
Although the PHQ-9 will be used to identify and efficiently monitor depressive symptoms and severity, regular 
use of the PHQ-9 leads to test-retest bias. As a result, we will use the Symptoms Checklist (SCL-20) depression 
scale as our main depression outcome measure.23 This tool is very sensitive to changes in depression among 
people with diabetes and will be used for baseline, 6-monthly and 36 month measures only. It has also been 
used successfully in prior studies.2 The PHQ-9 will still be administered at the 6-monthly study visits.  
Data regarding health utilization, costs, and quality of care will be collected through clinic chart reviews 
and questionnaires. We will collect data on self-reported direct medical costs (inpatient, outpatient, 
prescription medication, and diagnostic services), and pharmacy use plus clinic administrative records to 
identify unit costs. Since out-of-pocket health expenditures predominate in India, we will also use 
questionnaires developed for previous studies in India.24 The questionnaire will capture direct non-medical 
(participant time spent traveling to and attending appointments) and indirect costs (lost productivity 
associated with illness or premature mortality). Data regarding patient-centered outcomes such as 
treatment satisfaction, quality of life and utility (reflects participants' judgments regarding different health 
states on a continuum from 0.0 [representing death] to 1.0 [perfect health]) will be collected using the 
instruments described in Table 3. 
All data will be labeled with unique participant identifying numbers that cannot be discerned without 
access to the coding sheet and are meaningless to study staff and lay persons. 
 
 

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Table 3: Study Procedures and Measures for All Participants 
Variable and Tool 
Method 
Demographic and Anthropometric 
Age / Sex / Marital Status / Education / Occupation / Income / Migration 
Q 
Height / Weight / Body Mass Index / Waist Circumference 
E 
Depressive symptoms 
SCL-20 depression scale; PHQ-9 (Patient Health Questionnaire) 
Q 
Other Psychiatric Conditions 
GAD-7 (anxiety); MoCA (cognitive function); AUDIT-10 (alcohol use); DAST-
10 (substance abuse) 
Q 
Risk Factor Control 
Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) 
B 
Blood Pressure (BP) 
E 
Venous Fasting Lipid panel (HDL- and LDL-cholesterol, Triglycerides) 
B 
Tobacco Use 
Q 
Incidence of Complications 
Hospitalization / ER visits / Revascularization / Surgery / Dialysis 
Q 
Self-efficacy 
Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA)25 
Q 
Quality of Life / Utility / Satisfaction 
Health Utilities Index (HUI-3) 
Q 
Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire 
Q 
Costs and Quality of Care 
Costs of Care (direct, indirect costs); Health Utilization; Unit Costs 
Q; R 
Processes of Care (e.g., annual eye exams) 
Q; R 
Q = Questionnaire; E = Examination; B = Blood test; R = Records.

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6.1 
Schedule of Evaluations 
VISIT 1–PHQ-9 Screening; Eligibility Screening and Baseline Randomization; 6-monthly Visits for All 
Table 4: Schedule of Evaluations 
PHASE 
Screening 
Eligibility 
testing & 
baseline (0 
month study 
visit) 
Intermediate 
visits 
(Intervention 
Grp) 
6-monthly 
study visits 
Sustained 
effectiveness 
visits 
MONTH 
Max -4 
weeks 
-4 to 0 weeks 
 
6, 12, 18 
24 and 36 
month 
visits 
Verbal consent 
X 
X 
 
 
 
Signed informed consent 
 
X 
 
 
 
PHQ-9 
X 
X 
X 
X 
X 
SCL-20 
 
X 
 
X 
X 
Assess Eligibility + Enrollment 
X 
X 
 
 
 
Demographics (age, sex, socioeconomic status) 
 
X 
 
 
 
Medical history  
X (basic) 
X (full) 
X (interval) 
X (interval) 
X (interval) 
Family history 
 
X 
 
 
 
Social History (lifestyle/habits) 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Questions regarding Bipolar Disease / Psychosis 
 
X 
 
X 
X 
Anxiety (GAD-7) 
 
X 
 
X 
X 
Alcohol use (AUDIT-10) and drug use (DAST-10) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
Cognitive function (MoCA) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
Self-care (SDSCA) 
 
X 
 
X (partial) 
X 
Quality of Life(HUI-3) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction (DTSQ) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
Costs of Care  (records, questionnaire) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
*Acceptability: physician interviews 
 
Likely 
 
 
Likely 
Blood pressure (BP) and heart rate 
X 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Height, Weight, BMI (calculated), Waist 
Circumference 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
General Physical Examination 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Eye Examination 
 
X 
As needed 
As needed 
X 
Foot Examination  
 
X 
As needed 
As needed 
X 
ECG 
 
X 
As needed 
As needed 
X 
Urine Microalbuminuria 
 
X 
 
 
X 
Albumin:creatinine ratio (urine analysis) 
 
X 
 
 
X 
†Serum Creatinine Serum Sodium, Potassium 
and ALT 
 
X 
As needed 
 
X 
Venous fasting blood glucose (FBG) 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Glycated hemoglobin A1c 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Lipids (TC, HDL, LDL [calculated], TG) 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Glucose-lowering, blood-pressure lowering, and 
cholesterol-lowering medications 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Other concomitant medications  
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
Tobacco use 
 
X 
As needed 
X 
X 
AE/ SAE Intake (ongoing)  
 
 
X 
X 
X 
                                                          
*Qualitative interviews of physician sub-samples will be administered by Coordinating Center staff. 
†Follow-up serum potassium and creatinine levels if high and started on ACE-i; follow-up ALT if started on statin.          

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6.2 
Evaluation Schedule 
The first visit is for participant screening and the second visit for confirming eligibility and documenting baseline 
status. Randomization will be computer-generated and CCs at each site will be notified of participants who are 
assigned to the intervention arm only. The CCs will then contact the intervention participants and schedule their 
initial and subsequent intervention visits directly with participants. Reviews by the team (diabetologist, psychiatrist, 
and CC) will happen weekly and the intensity of discussion on each participant will depend on CC and DS-EHR 
prompts and needs of the participants (well-controlled participants will require minimal discussion, while poorly-
controlled participants may require more intensive discussion).  
For the intervention arm: The CC will motivate and monitor participants’ progress. The CC will update the 
participant’s medications and labs plus PHQ-9 values in the DS-EHR and will provide a dashboard printout of 
participants’ progress and suggested treatment plans and/or modifications for physicians to review at every case 
review meeting. The usual care physician will assess the participant and accept or modify the prompt (providing a 
reason if he/she chooses to modify the prompt). The case of this same participant will then be discussed, along with 
all other participants at the site weekly or bi-weekly case review meeting and the case review team will continue 
with or recommend modifications to the physician’s and DS-EHR’s care plan for the patient. If the case review team 
recommends modifications to the care plan these will be accepted or modified in a final review step by the usual 
care physician. The CC will update the participant and the DS-EHR system; address any barriers to care and motivate 
him/her to achieve risk factor management goals and confirm the next appointment dates.  The CC will continue to 
facilitate the participant’s adherence to appointments and self-management using DS-EHR reminders and phone 
calls. 
For ALL participants: The blinded outcomes assessor at each site will independently contact all participants 
(intervention and control) to schedule post-randomization visits for study assessments. All other intermediate visits 
by the participants will be documented as they routinely are in participant’s clinical case notes. 
For all randomized participants, the post-randomization follow-up period will be 36 months. The study staff at each 
site involved in executing the study procedures includes: 
 
Lead Site Investigator/Co-investigator/Sub-investigator: 
o Site PI: Oversee all trial-related procedures (recruitment, screening, enrollment, randomization, and 
follow-up of participants for medical evaluation) 
o Co-investigator or coordinator to support recruitment and retention activities 
 
Blinded Outcomes Assessor: 
o Screening and Outcomes Assessments: a research physician or nurse that will perform screening 
evaluations, baseline and six-monthly history and physical examination and enters data into DS-EHR 
system, which randomizes participants into trial arms.  
 
Care Coordinator: 
o Motivates intervention participants to self-manage and self-monitor their conditions;  
o Monitors intervention participants and enters PHQ-9 and blood testing (glucose, HbA1c, BP, and 
cholesterol levels) data from clinic report forms regularly into DS-EHR and follows prompts regarding 
case reviews 
o Coordinates with diabetologist and psychiatrist to conduct case review meetings for intervention 
participants on a weekly or bi-weekly basis 

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o Supplies the intervention participants’ management plans (generated from the DS-EHR) to study 
physicians at case review meetings 
o Conveys any treatment plan changes to intervention participants and continues monitoring until 36 
months post-randomization 
 
Usual Care Physicians (diabetes or primary care physicians at each site): 
o Routine care for participants, whether control or intervention arm 
o Attend continued education training on managing diabetes and depression 
o For intervention participants, assess output prompts from DS-EHR system and accept or reject 
implementation of this care plan, providing reasons for any rejection 
 
Case Review Specialists (psychiatrist and diabetologist at each site):  
o Discuss all participants’ cases in the intervention arm on a weekly or bi-weekly basis 
o Recommend treatment maintenance or changes based on the outputs of the DS-EHR and clinical 
judgment 
6.2.1 Screening (Pre-randomization) 
Based on clinic records, any eligible subjects (those with poorly controlled HbA1c, BP, or lipids within the previous six 
months and no other obvious exclusion criteria) will be contacted for depression screening. Screening with PHQ-9 
(maximum of 4 weeks before randomizing) for all potential participants will be conducted in-person or via the 
phone. Eligible participants from the first screening visit will be advanced to a more detailed screening visit. The 
second screening visit is the first time participants are required to present at the clinic.  
Screening Visit 1  
Potentially eligible participants will interact with a site screening officer via in-person or phone visit. The visit will 
include: 
 
Verbal consent to screen and also to notify participant’s usual care provider if he/she is found to have co-
morbid depression and diabetes 
 
Collecting contact information 
 
Assessing basic medical history (general Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria items) 
 
PHQ-9 assessment 
The participants who do not meet eligibility criteria for the trial will be notified of their status. The participants who 
are still eligible for the study after this 1st visit will be asked to present fasting (minimum of 8 hours) for detailed 
screening visit (including laboratory tests and questionnaires).  
Screening Visit 2 – detailed assessment (by blinded outcomes assessor) 
Within 4 weeks after Screening Visit 1 (PHQ-9), the participant will be invited to present to the clinic in a fasting state 
for informed consent (by the site investigator or a co-investigator) and detailed screening and baseline visit (please 
see Table 44):  
 
Urine sample for urine albumin:creatinine ratio 

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 
Blood sample for measurement of Hemoglobin A1c and blood chemistries (serum creatinine, sodium, 
potassium, and ALT) to determine if existing medical conditions would exclude an individual from 
participating in the study  
 
Baseline Symptoms Checklist (SCL-20) depression questionnaire 
 
Questionnaires to exclude other psychiatric illnesses (e.g., bipolar disorder, psychosis, reduced cognitive 
function) 
 
Fasting venous blood sample for glucose and lipids (triglycerides, total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and LDL 
[calculated]) 
 
Blood pressure and heart rate   
 
Height, weight, BMI (calculated), waist circumference 
 
Data will be entered into DS-EHR for randomization 
Those potential participants who do not meet eligibility criteria will be notified of their status at the clinic and will 
not undergo further testing. Those individuals still meeting the inclusion/exclusion criteria will be told that they will 
either be contacted by a CC if assigned to intervention arm or to continue visiting the clinic as guided by their usual 
care physicians.  
For all participants, the outcomes assessor will: 
 
Complete data entry for each participant into the DS-EHR, which includes medical and family history, 
medications, and mental health evaluations. 
6.2.2 Follow-up Study Visits (0, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months post-randomization) 
All participants (intervention and control) will be invited to present for the 6-monthly follow-up visits. All participants 
will have to obtain all investigations: venous FBG, HbA1c, lipid profile, serum creatinine, and other blood 
biochemistries if necessary, SCL-20, and any complication screenings deemed necessary (urine albumin:creatinine 
ratio, eye exam, and ECG) prior to the visit. All participants will be required to present the lab results at the visit, if 
the site does not have a system in place to obtain the laboratory results independently. Participants will be 
contacted by a study coordinator or the outcomes assessor and scheduled for a full assessment and blood draws.  
The outcomes assessor will obtain the following data from the participants:  
 
Interval history, hypoglycemic events, any adverse events or serious adverse events, other complications 
developing or changes experienced 
 
Measures: Blood pressure and heart rate, height, weight, BMI (calculated), waist circumference 
 
Investigations: values from lab reports; reports of ECG, eye and/or foot exams 
 
Social/lifestyle habits and questionnaires: self-care (SDSCA), health utilities (HUI-3), diabetes treatment 
satisfaction (DTSQ), and frequency/costs of care 
 
SCL-20 and PHQ-9 depression questionnaires 
 
GAD-7 anxiety questionnaire 
 
Questionnaires to exclude other psychiatric illnesses (e.g., bipolar disorder, psychosis, reduced cognitive 
function) 
Scheduling:  

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Follow-up of participants after they have stopped participation in the intervention will be conducted and will include 
monitoring and reporting any adverse experiences or outcomes. Potential reasons for early termination of study 
participation can be found in Section 9.7: Non-Compliance 
Non-compliance is the failure to follow national, state, or local regulations governing human subject research, 
institutional policies related to human subject research, or the requirements or determinations of the IRB. 
This may pertain to the principal investigator, research staff, or any member or component of the human 
research protection program. 
Examples of non-compliance: 
 
Performing human subject research without first obtaining ethics committee approval or an ethics committee 
declaration of exemption 
 
Deviating from or violating the provisions of an ethics committee-approved protocol 
 
Failing to secure ethics committee approval of a protocol due for periodic continuing review prior to its 
expiration date 
 
Permitting a protocol’s ethics committee approval to lapse without stopping all research-related activities and 
submitting a closing progress report to the ethics committee, or in the event of an overriding safety concern or 
ethical issue such that it would be in the individual subject’s best interest to continue study participation, not 
arranging with the ethics committee to continue those activities 
6.2.3 Serious Non-compliance 
Serious non-compliance is non-compliance that creates an increase in risks to subjects, adversely affects the rights, 
welfare and safety of the research subjects or adversely affects the scientific integrity of the study. Willful violation 
of policies and/or federal regulations may also constitute serious non-compliance. 
6.2.4 Continuing Non-compliance 
Continuing non-compliance is a pattern of non-compliance that if allowed to continue is likely to increase risk to 
subjects, adversely affect the rights, welfare and safety of research subjects, or adversely affect the scientific 
integrity of the study. 
6.2.5 Reporting of Serious Non-compliance 
Serious non-compliance should be reported to the Research Coordinating Centre and the local, site-specific ethics 
committee within 5 business days of event occurrence, or from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned 
about the event. The MDRF and Emory ethics committees should be notified by the Research Coordinating Centre 
within 10 business days of event occurrence, or from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned about the 
event. Serious non-compliance that results in increased risks to subjects will be promptly reported to NIMH.   
Criteria for Discontinuation. 
7 Study Participant Risk, Privacy and Burden 
All participants will be approached at each data collection time-point, unless they voluntarily withdraw from the 
studies. All data collection tools will be well established, including validated questionnaires in local languages or 
English, clinical interview, and clinical assessment techniques. The collection of biological samples is minimally 
invasive and minimally painful. Data collection will be conducted in non-threatening settings by trained professional 
clinical staff (either physicians or research nurses) at participating diabetes clinics where these participants routinely 
access care. All questionnaire, examination, and laboratory data will be entered in each participant’s unique 
electronic health record (the DS-EHR) that can only be accessed by the outcomes assessor, the CC, and/or the trial 

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Coordinating Center (each of whom have unique logins permitting different levels of access to data). For data 
analysis, all participant identifiers will be removed when datasets are compiled.  
7.1 
Expected Risks for Participants 
The potential risks from involvement in this trial are considered to be minimal. No invasive procedures will be 
performed, except for collection of venous and capillary blood samples (which are minimally-invasive procedures). 
However, there is a risk of bruising or discomfort with blood draws and, very rarely, the procedure can result in 
inflammation or infection of the arm veins. For all data collection, trial participants will be provided with in-clinic 
facilities that afford appropriate privacy and hygiene. Appropriate precautions will be taken to avoid inflicting harm 
or risk to participants. It is also unlikely, although possible, that trial questionnaires may cause distress to the 
participant. Risks are considered minimal, and participants will be informed of all possible risks in the consent form. 
If the participant deems the risks too large, he or she may refuse to take part in the study or withdraw at any time. 
Adverse events and serious adverse events will be monitored. Further details are available in Section 9.4: Adverse 
Events and Serious Adverse Events. 
7.1.1 Measures to Minimize Risk 
Appropriate precautions will be taken to avoid harming the well-being of participants. Any potential adverse effects 
will be monitored and reported by the study investigators immediately to the relevant clinic research site ethics 
committees, the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation Institutional Ethics Committee (IEC), and Emory University 
Institutional Review Boards (IRB) for appropriate action.  
Even though the potential for injury to research subjects due to the risks of the proposed procedures is judged to be 
minimal, all reasonable efforts will be made to minimize these risks through the exclusive use of properly trained and 
educated research personnel. Individuals who are injured by study procedures will be informed of their rights to and 
be offered treatment of the injury as part of the informed consent procedure and the prevailing local health policy. 
Specifically: 
 
Participants will be informed of their right to refuse to answer any survey question that makes them 
uncomfortable. 
 
Any undiagnosed disease or condition or abnormal test results that present during study testing will be 
brought to the attention of the Site Lead Investigator and the participant. 
 
The participant will be referred for emergency care for emergencies or to their personal physician or a 
community hospital or clinic (if he or she does not have a personal physician) for non-emergencies. 
 
Where mild injury / discomfort is caused to the participant, e.g. vasovagal attacks, needle-stick injury, etc., 
appropriate procedures will be followed to attend to this by study and medical staff 
 
The study will have trial insurance to cover any major injuries or discomfort encountered by participants if 
the harm is judged to be attributable to study procedures 
Suicide/Self-Harm Risk:  
We have established a suicide protocol that is specific to each clinic research site. Potential participants who indicate 
a high risk of suicide (a “3” on the PHQ-9 suicide item [#9]) at the screening visit will not be eligible for the study and 
will be immediately referred for intensive psychiatric care.  Individuals scoring a “2” on the PHQ-9 suicide item at the 
screening visit will be administered a self-harm risk assessment. Potential participants assessed to be at high risk for 
self-harm will be immediately referred for intensive psychiatric care and will not be eligible for the study. Potential 
participants assessed to have a low risk for self-harm will be eligible to be enrolled in the study.  Study participants 

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who score a 3 on the PHQ-9 suicide item during the study will be similarly referred for care. During the study, those 
reporting a 2 on the suicide item will be treated and followed intensively, in accordance with the suicide protocol. If 
there is heightened concern by the study team, the participant may be removed from the study into specialist care.   
We will provide two continuing medical education presentations on recognition of depressive symptoms, treatment 
approaches, and particularly, recognition of severe depression (e.g., suicidal risk) so that all physicians and nursing 
staff at each site can be attentive to these occurring in both intervention and usual care participants. Assessment 
tools (PHQ-9 and SCL-20) will be used by study personnel to determine the risk of participant self-harm and study 
personnel will be trained, and given refresher courses every 6 months, in procedures to handle emergencies of this 
sort. Study personnel and site physicians will always be able to contact psychiatry specialists from our study team in 
emergencies: Dr. Radha Shankar (Chennai), Dr. Rajesh Sagar (Delhi), Dr. Bodepudi Sarath (Visakhapatnam) and Dr. 
Pooja Rai K. (Bangalore). In addition, each site has identified mental health providers who are skilled at managing 
severe forms of depression. Participants will be referred to them in an emergency.  
Usual Care Participants: Study protocols regarding management of risk will apply to both intervention and usual care 
arm participants. All participants assigned to usual care will be notified of their elevated depression scores and 
abnormal CVD risk indicators by the screening investigator, who will also obtain verbal consent to contact the 
participant’s usual care provider. We will convey the participant’s symptoms and severity of depression as well as 
the levels of control of cardio-metabolic risk factors to his/her usual care provider. We will create information tools 
that can help usual care providers who are not familiar with management of depression. As such, the usual care 
group will really receive enhanced usual care. Mental health services will not be withheld from usual care 
participants who happen to seek additional psychological or pharmaceutical therapies for their condition. Providers 
will not be prevented from referring usual care participants to mental health or alternative therapy providers.  
7.2 Protection of Participant Privacy 
We will utilize the following additional protections: 
a) Validated and previously approved protocols and instruments will be adapted to suit the research plans and 
context, and will be internally and externally reviewed (by appropriate IRBs). Our experienced local India 
investigators will additionally provide critical appraisal of all study tools to ensure cultural sensitivity 
regarding privacy prior to use. 
b) All interventionists (CC) and study personnel will be trained in procedures to minimize the potential for 
breaches of confidentiality, including but not limited to ensuring that all files are closed, that interviews are 
conducted in private settings, and that no conversations about individual study participants occur in public 
settings.  
c) Names and other easily recognizable identifiers will be removed from all questionnaires prior to data entry 
and will not be included in any electronic databases. Numeric study identifiers will be included so that data 
from the several instruments may be linked; however, these will not be meaningful to anyone not having 
access to the original study logs. All data files will be maintained under password protection at all times, at 
each participating site and at the Coordinating Center. 
1) As the intervention is delivered in a personal, one-to-one manner, CCs will interact with participants 
by name, and may even review cases with the remainder of the case review team using the 
participant’s name. Also, logs or information collected for the interim care (between outcomes 
assessment visits) of intervention participants will be kept separate and only accessible by CCs – any 
data accessible to the research team will be de-identified.  

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d) Based on previous collaborative studies in India in how to maintain confidentiality of study data, this study 
too will employ password-protection for computer data files, and locked file cabinets in restricted-access 
buildings (at each participating clinic and at the Coordinating Center at MDRF) for storage of hard copies of 
interview questionnaires and other study materials. An additional off-site server for data back-up will also be 
secured in a restricted access building. Regular data back-up schedules and appropriate server security 
procedures (to ward off unauthorized data retrieval attempts) will be instituted.  
e) The Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy and security regulations are a part 
of US law and do not apply to India. However, we will still make every effort to uphold participant privacy by 
ensuring that study staff at each location will only have access to the data that is relevant to their roles. Each 
of the roles (CC, outcomes assessor) will have unique access to the DS-EHR, whereby certain functions are 
limited (e.g., the Coordinating Center team has ‘full administrative rights’ status, while CCs cannot view data 
collected by outcomes assessors for the 6-monthly visits). If data are entered incorrectly and submitted by 
CCs, they can contact the Coordinating Center team to modify the data. All study-related computers will be 
in access-controlled settings and are password-protected. Identification information will be stored 
separately from all assessment data. Data will be audited on an ongoing basis to ensure confidentiality 
safeguards and data integrity are maintained.  
f) Analysis of data and publication of manuscripts will be limited to aggregate data such that identification of 
individuals will be impossible.  
7.3 Participant Burden 
The initial screening questionnaire will require 5 minutes of explanation and opportunity for questions and 10 
minutes to complete the PHQ-9 questionnaire, while the travel time to the clinic will vary by distance to the clinic. 
The more detailed screening assessment to identify reasons that would make a participant ineligible will take 
approximately 60 minutes to complete. This baseline assessment visit requires traveling to the clinic and undergoing 
detailed explanation and documentation of informed consent, detailed medical history, clinical examination, 
anthropometric measurements, and collection of biochemical specimens. All participants enrolled in the trial 
(whether enrolled in the intervention arm or usual care arm) will also be requested to return to the clinic for follow-
up assessments at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months and unscheduled visits are recommended if the participants are not 
well or it is deemed necessary by the usual care physicians or the case review specialists (these “interim” visits will 
be shorter than the baseline visit and will be completed by the CC for intervention arm participants and the usual 
care physician for control participants – documentation in the DS-EHR is required for intervention arm participants, 
but not control arm participants). At full six-monthly visits, the outcomes assessor will administer detailed 
questionnaires regarding medical history, self-care activities, depressive symptoms, quality of life, satisfaction, and 
costs of care, in addition to clinical examination and biochemical measures collected at the clinic laboratory (Table 
4). Each visit will require travel to the clinic and approximately 30 minutes to complete questionnaires and 15 
minutes to complete the laboratory sample collection. The study will pay all costs associated with these 5 visits (0 
(baseline) plus 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 month time-points) for all participants (intervention arm and usual care), 
including consultation fee for nurses and research staff, and all measurement tools and laboratory costs. Participants 
will be provided with 200 rupees to cover their travel and refreshment expenses per visit. 
Participants randomized to the usual care group will have no additional direct contact with the study staff. The 
routine care providers of usual care participants will be provided with written guidance on how to manage 
depressive symptoms and provide the most updated evidence-based guidelines for care of diabetes and CVD (e.g., 
American Diabetes Association guidelines). As such, the usual care providers may request usual care participants to 
visit the clinic more frequently or may intensify treatments. We will assess these changes at outcomes assessment 
visits. 

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Participants randomized to the intervention group will have additional visits and follow-up with the CC 
interventionist. These “interim” visits will involve an initial visit and at least 4 visits over the course of the 12-month 
active intervention. There may also be more visits and more phone contact, lasting from 10 minutes for brief 
progress checks to more detailed 60-minute visits to use behavioral activation or motivational interviewing 
techniques to encourage better self-care. Participants will not be compensated for these visits and phone calls. If 
additional tests or changes to treatment plans are required based on guidance from the DS-EHR, the usual care 
physician, or our case review team, the costs for these intermediary tests or treatment adjustments will be borne by 
participants as this is an implementation trial. As mentioned, all study-related outcome assessment visit costs (the 
six-monthly “study visits”) are borne by the study team. 
Throughout the screening and study process, potential participants will be treated with respect and reassured that 
they have the right to withdraw from the screening process or the study at any time without any consequence for 
their usual care. All clinic interactions and activities will be conducted in a private room and the in the preferred 
language(s) of the local regions to assure participants’ comfort. 
8 
Study Benefits 
The intervention is a preventive health study that is helping implement existing, evidence-based guidelines for 
diabetes and depression care. The control group will follow the existing usual care provided by their Routine Care 
Physicians at each clinic research site, while the intervention is designed to improve quality of care delivery (better 
control of depressive symptoms and CVD risk factors via regular examination of lab and PHQ-9 parameters and 
implementing responsive therapies suggested by a “smart” software technology and overseen by Specialist Case 
Review Physicians). 
8.1 Potential Benefits of Participation 
All participants in this implementation trial (whether in the intervention or the usual group) will benefit from greater 
awareness of their depressive symptoms and individual CVD risk, provision of evidence-based self-management 
guidelines, 6-monthly biochemical and preventive) investigations at no cost to the individual concerned, and 
potentially superior continuity of care where all participant health information is recorded by an electronic system. 
In addition, participants randomized to the intervention group will receive structured and customized multi-
condition care led by a CC with support from a physician case review team, individualized attention and follow-up, 
and motivation for better lifestyle choices and treatment adherence. It has been shown that this model of care is 
associated with better health and participant-reported outcomes (e.g., quality of life, patient satisfaction). 
Participants randomized to the usual care arm may also benefit, as all physicians at the four recruiting clinics will 
have the benefit of CME courses in recognition and treatment of depression and raised awareness of all clinic staff to 
better control glycemia, blood pressure, and lipids. We will also provide updated guidelines for treating depression 
and CVD risk to all physicians at the clinics. Whether or not subjects experience therapeutic benefit in the study, all 
participants have the opportunity to express their satisfaction or opinions about medical and mental health services 
received. Overall, the study itself may have important implications for models of improving mental health disorder 
detection and care as well as better care of CVD risk factors. 
8.1.1 Importance of Knowledge to be Gained 
We anticipate that the benefits of an integrated multi-condition depression and diabetes control implementation 
trial are extensive. Individualized care of these participants may infrequently uncover previously unknown health 
problems that, with treatment, will result in better future health for participants. This study aims to fill deficiencies 
in knowledge regarding delivery of depression and diabetes care in India. Other collateral benefits include greater 
awareness of depression, risk factor control, environmental and behavioral risk factors, quality of care, and creating 

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a stimulus for auditing and more in-depth health services research, increasing awareness of quality of care among 
the region’s physician community. 
Enhancing the roles and skills of diabetes educators or nutritionists that are trained to be CC’s will strengthen local 
health-services capacity. Trained CCs offer a cadre of health workers that fill an existing void in co-morbid disease 
control. If successful, the training tools from the study can help Public Health Foundation of India develop a program 
that builds human resources capacity for India’s national mental health and CVD control programs.  
Other tools [updated evidence-based guidelines and already-tested software (incorporating easy-to-use dashboards 
of participant indicators; risk stratification; decision prompts)] developed for this study may be adaptable for use in 
other low and middle income countries. Cost-utility analyses and user-friendly data regarding human and financial 
resources required to implement this intervention may motivate health resource allocation toward more quality 
improvement strategies and inform health policy development. 
9 Study Monitoring Plan 
An external data safety and monitoring board (DSMB) with no conflict of interest will monitor for any potential 
adverse effects and report these to both the study investigators and ethics committees (or institutional review 
boards) at the research clinic sites, Emory University, and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Special efforts 
will be made to ensure that all study participants are monitored carefully. The Coordinating Center team will monitor 
study enrollment, loss to follow up, adherence and satisfaction, as well as adverse effects. These matters will be 
regularly communicated to the DSMB and the study’s PIs (Mohan, Ali, Chwastiak). Serious adverse events (e.g., risk 
of suicide) that occur during the intervention or present during study testing will be brought to the attention of study 
physicians and participants will be referred to emergency care. In the event of significant risks to human 
participation or decreased likelihood of study completion, provisions will be made to consider premature 
discontinuation of the trial where deemed necessary or as recommended by external review boards (IRBs, DSMB) or 
by consensus of the investigator group.  
9.1 
Data Safety and Monitoring Board 
Four India-based, independent, respected professionals, who are not affiliated with any of the institutions in our 
research group, will serve on a DSMB for this trial. The members will consist of one clinical trials specialist, one 
statistician, one senior psychiatrist, and one senior diabetologist. The DSMB will be charged with external oversight, 
to monitor the conduct of the study for feasibility, data integrity, and safety. DSMB members will be chosen for their 
relevant expertise. 
The DSMB will review the protocol and plans, and will monitor participant flow, screening, and recruitment 
procedures, and the occurrence of adverse events related to participation in the study. The following adverse events 
will be monitored: death, suicide attempts, dropout, psychiatric hospitalizations, clinical deterioration, CVD or 
diabetes complications hospitalizations, revascularizations, other major surgical procedures (e.g., amputation), 
suicidal ideation or plans, development of serious substance abuse, emergence of new psychiatric or medical 
diagnosis posing significant risk to subjects.  
The PIs will convene DSMB meetings in years 3, 4, and 5 to review study progress and safety. The meetings will 
largely be via teleconference with one or two in-person meetings. The PIs and Coordinating Center team (project 
manager, data manager, analyst) will compile all reports and information requested by the DSMB in a timely fashion 
and will respond to all DSMB queries and suggestions. Following DSMB meetings, the PIs will compile the 
suggestions and discussion into a report and share this with each site plus the Emory IRB and NIMH.  

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Even though we have judged the potential for injury to research participants from the proposed procedures to be 
minimal, all reasonable efforts will be made to further minimize these risks through the exclusive use of properly 
trained and educated research personnel and high-quality materials. As part of the informed consent procedure, 
individuals will be informed of their rights regarding injury sustained during study procedures and will be offered 
treatment for the injury according to prevailing local health policies. Detailed procedures for the notification of any 
abnormal findings of clinical relevance as well as non-emergency and emergency referrals will be developed and 
implemented. 
9.2 
Specification of Safety Parameters 
The integrated care delivery strategies in this intervention are not implementing any new drug or invasive procedure 
that requires specific monitoring of safety parameters. All routine clinical care precautions will be used (e.g., 
checking liver function in the first few months following initiation of statin use), but all of these are common in 
routine practice and involve well-tested, established medications and procedures. 
9.3 
Monitoring Procedures 
This is an implementation trial to improve care delivery for people with diabetes and depression with no direct risks 
anticipated for participants. Site monitoring visits will occur on at least 3 occasions in the first year and on at least two 
occasions in the subsequent year. Sites will provide 3-monthly progress reports with information on participant 
recruitment/retention, adverse events, and any protocol deviations or issues. The Steering Committee is comprised of 
all study investigators and the Coordinating Center manager. The Steering Committee provides annual reports to the 
DSMB, ethics committees, and NIMH who will review the progress of the study and make recommendations as 
necessary. 
The annual report will include:  
1) A list and summarization of adverse events; 
2) Whether adverse event rates are consistent with pre-study assumptions;  
3) Reason for dropouts from the study;  
4) Enrollment of participants, by site, age, gender, other characteristics; 
5) Whether all participants met entry criteria;  
6) Whether continuation of the study is justified on the basis that additional data are needed to accomplish the 
stated aims of the study; and  
7) Conditions whereby the study might be terminated prematurely. 
The DSMB will convene regularly to review the report and other issues pertaining to the trial’s progress and safety. 
The annual report will be signed by the DSMB chairperson and forwarded to the MDRF IEC and the Steering 
Committee of Investigators. Minutes of the DSMB recommendations will be provided to NIMH within 30 days of 
convening.  
9.4 
Unanticipated Problems 
Unanticipated problems (UP) are events that are assessed by the PI as unexpected, related to study participation, 
and involving risk for participants or others.   
 
To be considered unanticipated, an event should be unexpected, not described in the study documents, or 
presenting with increased severity, duration, or frequency. 

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 
 To be related to study participation, an event should be probably or possibly related to study participation, 
due to drug effect, or as a consequence of a study procedure (even if, in the case of the control arm,  the 
procedure is considered standard of care).  If an event could be explained by the underlying medical 
condition, it is not considered related.  
 
To involve risk for participants or others, the event may affect subjects’ risk.  Even if the event did not result 
in harm, if the subject could have been affected by the event (safety, rights, welfare), the event is 
reportable. 
Other unanticipated information that changes the risk-benefit ratio, or that indicates participants or others might be 
at greater risk of harm than was previously known may also be considered a UP. Examples:  
 
Any change to the protocol taken without prior ethics committee approval in order to eliminate apparent 
immediate hazards to participants 
 
Any publication in the literature, DSMB report, or interim result that indicated an unexpected change to the 
potential risks of the study 
9.5 
Adverse Events and Serious Adverse Events 
9.5.1 Classification of Adverse Events 
Definition of an Adverse Event: “An adverse event (AE) is any untoward medical occurrence in a subject temporally 
associated with participation in the clinical study or with use of the experimental agent being studied. An adverse 
finding can include a sign, symptom, abnormal assessment (laboratory test value, vital signs, electrocardiogram 
finding, etc.), or any combination of these.” All adverse events will be assigned a severity, attribution to the study, 
and a status (anticipated or unanticipated) as described below: 
Classification of AE Severity: AEs will be labeled according to severity, which is based on their impact on the 
participant. An AE will be termed ‘mild’ if it does not have a major impact on the participant, ‘moderate’ if it causes 
the participant some minor inconvenience and ‘serious’ if it causes a substantial disruption of the participant’s 
wellbeing.  
AE Attribution Scale: AEs will be categorized according to the likelihood that they are related to the study 
intervention. Specifically, they will be labeled either definitely, probably, possibly, or unrelated to the study 
intervention based on the professional judgment of the site PI Events categorized as probably or possibly related to 
study participation due to a drug effect or as a consequence of a study procedure will be considered related to study 
participation. An event is not considered related if it can be explained by a participant’s underlying medical condition. 
Unanticipated Status: AEs will be classified as anticipated or unanticipated. Unanticipated AEs are assessed by the PI 
and must be unexpected, related to study participation, and involve risk to the participants or others. Unexpected 
events are events that do not appear in the list of anticipated events give below. The AE attribution scale will be used 
to determine if events are related to participation in the study. Events are considered to involve risk to the participant 
or others if their safety, rights, or welfare are affected (even if the event did not result in harm).  
List of Non-Serious Adverse Events: 
1) Mild hypoglycemia not requiring medical attention  
2) Side-effects of medications (e.g. hepatic dysfunction or myopathy due to statins; dry cough due to ACE-I; 
negative effects of drugs on biochemical parameters such as hypo- or hyper-kalemia, hyperuricemia; and 
others per Investigator discretion)  
3) Peripheral vascular disease: intermittent claudication, rest pain 

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4) Allergic reactions/reactions on basis of drug interactions  
5) Infection (skin infections, soft tissue infections) 
6) Weight gain 
7) Worsening of pre-existing conditions other than dyslipidemia, hyperglycemia and systemic hypertension 
8) Clinically significant biochemical evaluations as per the PI’s discretion 
9) Mild to moderate retinopathy without diabetic macular edema 
10) Common AEs from depression treatments include headache, dry mouth, insomnia, constipation, dizziness, 
fatigue, somnolence, diarrhea, and hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating); most are mild to moderate 
11) Other AEs associated with depression treatment are flu-like symptoms, anxiety, sexual dysfunction, sleep 
disturbance, dizziness, appetite changes, and blurred vision 
9.5.2 Serious Adverse Events 
Definition of a Serious Adverse Event: “A serious adverse event (SAE) is any adverse event that results in one or 
more of the following outcomes: death; a life-threatening event; inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing 
hospitalization; a persistent or significant disability/incapacity; a congenital anomaly or birth defect; or an important 
medical event based upon appropriate medical judgment.” SAEs are AEs in which the severity has been classified as 
serious. SAEs will be further assessed by the PI for study attribution and anticipated status using the criteria 
described above.  
List of Serious Adverse Events: 
1) Severe hypoglycemia requiring medical attention/hospitalization (a hypoglycemic episode associated with 
transient central nervous system dysfunction without other apparent cause in which the individual was 
unable to treat him/herself and had help from another person to administer glucose or glucagon) 
2) Acute hyperglycemia (e.g., diabetic ketoacidosis [DKA]) 
3) CVD events: angina, non-fatal MI / unstable angina, revascularization procedure (angioplasty or CABG), TIA, 
stroke (non-fatal), arrhythmia  
4) Gangrene or amputation due to diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease  
5) Major bleeding (e.g., intracerebral or gastro-intestinal) 
6) Renal: end-stage renal disease requiring renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation) 
7) Eyes: severe diabetes-related eye disease  (defined as the requirement for retinal photocoagulation or 
similar treatment and development of diabetes-related blindness in either eye in a participant known not to 
have this condition at study entry) 
8) Major infection: requiring hospitalization and/or parenteral antibiotics (UTI, skin infections, soft tissue 
infections, lower respiratory tract infections/physician-diagnosed pneumonia) 
9) Inpatient hospitalization or prolongation of existing hospitalization  
10) Suicidal ideation 
11) Death  
12) Any other major health conditions/events (important medical event based upon appropriate medical 
judgment) 

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9.5.3 Reporting of AEs and SAEs 
Information about the occurrence of any AEs or SAEs will be sought at all scheduled visits and any intermediate visits 
between CCs and intervention participants. AEs and SAEs will then be classified as anticipated or unanticipated.  
Unanticipated SAEs will be reported promptly. Death (whether anticipated or unanticipated) will follow the same 
prompt reporting procedure. The Lead Site Investigator will ensure that there is adequate follow-up of each 
participant who has a serious adverse event. Also, the Lead Site Investigator should ensure that all regulatory 
requirements specified by the local, site-specific IRB are completed. The DSMB will regularly review all such events 
and provide recommendations to the Steering Committee of Investigators. Documentation of all such SAEs will be 
retained in the participant’s trial folder for at least 3 years. 
Prompt reporting of a death or unanticipated SAE requires the responsible Lead Site Investigator to report the event 
to the Coordinating Center within 24 hours of the Lead Site Investigator’s knowledge of the event by completing a 
serious adverse event document by fax, email, or online submission and with notification by telephone. The clinic 
research site must report the death or unanticipated SAE to the local, site-specific ethics committee within 7 
calendar days.  
The Coordinating Center will report deaths or unanticipated SAEs to the DSMB, Emory IRB, and MDRF IEC within 7 
calendar days, with appropriate follow-up reports and final resolution forms with supporting documents as per 
evolution of the disease. Unanticipated SAEs will be reported to NIMH within 10 business days. Deaths related to 
study participation will be reported to NIMH immediately (no later than 5 business days) from when the site PI 
learns of the event. Anticipated deaths will be reported to NIMH as part of the annual report. Death or unanticipated 
SAEs that occur within 15 days after the end of the scheduled follow-up visit will be reported in the same way as 
those that occur before the end of follow-up. In addition, any AE that occurs after the completion of the scheduled 
follow-up, and that the investigator deems due to the study intervention, will be reported in the same way.  
Anticipated SAEs or those unrelated to the study intervention will be reported to the same individuals/entities on a 
monthly basis. Anticipated AEs and SAEs will be reported to NIMH in the annual progress report.  
9.6 
Protocol Deviations and Protocol Violations 
9.6.1 Protocol Deviations 
A “protocol deviation” is any change, divergence, or departure from the ethics committee approved protocol. 
Although every effort should be made to follow the protocol as written, it is common for studies to have protocol 
deviations. These deviations may result from human error, subject non-compliance, or confusing and/or ambiguous 
details. Protocol deviations may not alter the course of the study and do not pose a safety risk to the participant.  
Examples include: 
 
Lab draws off schedule 
 
Office or phone visit off schedule 
 
Baseline laboratory values out of enrolment window 
 
Out of window or missed visit, or out of window or missed lab draw  
9.6.2 Protocol Violations 
A “protocol violation” is a protocol deviation that may affect the subject's rights, safety, or well-being and/or the 
completeness, accuracy and reliability of the study data. Major protocol deviations are considered substantive and 
adversely affecting one of the following: 
 
Rights or welfare of subjects 

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 
Safety of subjects 
 
Willingness of subjects to continue with study participation 
 
Integrity of the research data 
Examples include: 
•  Enrolment of ineligible subject 
•  Lack of valid consent form 
•  Failure to report an SAE 
•  Lapse in IRB approval 
 
Improper breaking of the blind 
 
Mishandled samples 
 
Materially inadequate record keeping 
 
Intentional deviation from the protocol, Good Clinical Practice, or government regulations by study personnel 
 
Subject repeated non-compliance with study requirements 
9.6.3 Reporting of Protocol Deviations and Protocol Violations 
When encountering a situation determined to be a protocol deviation, the site coordinator should complete a 
Protocol Deviation Assessment Form and submit it to the Coordinating Center. Protocol deviations do not need to be 
reported to the local ethics committee or the Emory IRB. 
Protocol violations are promptly reportable. Prompt reporting is done by sending a Protocol Violation Assessment 
Form to the Coordinating Center and the local, site-specific ethics committee and should occur within 5 business 
days of event occurrence, or from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned about the event. The Emory 
ethics committee should be notified by the Coordinating Center within 10 business days of event occurrence, or 
from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned about the event. Protocol violations will be documented in the 
annual progress report to NIMH.  
The Coordinating Center will log all protocol deviations and violations to identify possible trends that may indicate a 
substantive problem. 
9.7 
Non-Compliance 
Non-compliance is the failure to follow national, state, or local regulations governing human subject research, 
institutional policies related to human subject research, or the requirements or determinations of the IRB. This may 
pertain to the principal investigator, research staff, or any member or component of the human research protection 
program. 
Examples of non-compliance: 
 
Performing human subject research without first obtaining ethics committee approval or an ethics committee 
declaration of exemption 
 
Deviating from or violating the provisions of an ethics committee-approved protocol 
 
Failing to secure ethics committee approval of a protocol due for periodic continuing review prior to its 
expiration date 
 
Permitting a protocol’s ethics committee approval to lapse without stopping all research-related activities and 
submitting a closing progress report to the ethics committee, or in the event of an overriding safety concern or 
ethical issue such that it would be in the individual subject’s best interest to continue study participation, not 
arranging with the ethics committee to continue those activities 

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9.7.1 Serious Non-compliance 
Serious non-compliance is non-compliance that creates an increase in risks to subjects, adversely affects the rights, 
welfare and safety of the research subjects or adversely affects the scientific integrity of the study. Willful violation 
of policies and/or federal regulations may also constitute serious non-compliance. 
9.7.2 Continuing Non-compliance 
Continuing non-compliance is a pattern of non-compliance that if allowed to continue is likely to increase risk to 
subjects, adversely affect the rights, welfare and safety of research subjects, or adversely affect the scientific 
integrity of the study. 
9.7.3 Reporting of Serious Non-compliance 
Serious non-compliance should be reported to the Research Coordinating Centre and the local, site-specific ethics 
committee within 5 business days of event occurrence, or from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned 
about the event. The MDRF and Emory ethics committees should be notified by the Research Coordinating Centre 
within 10 business days of event occurrence, or from when the Site Principal Investigator first learned about the 
event. Serious non-compliance that results in increased risks to subjects will be promptly reported to NIMH.   
9.8 
Criteria for Discontinuation of Intervention 
Criteria for discontinuing the intervention for a participant include: 
1) Moves away from proximity of the clinic research site 
2) If the Lead Site Investigator finds the participant to be incompatible with the intervention. For example, if 
the participant is unable to engage in the intervention due to major stroke, is in a vegetative state, or cannot 
communicate with the care coordinator. 
3) In-trial development or diagnosis of a major psychiatric illness (i.e. mania, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, 
schizoaffective disorder), which may complicate treatment within a non-psychiatric health facility and/or 
greatly confound the health outcomes for the individual.  
If any member of the local study team encounters a participant that meets any of the criteria for discontinuation, 
he/she must inform the Lead Site Investigator, who will report the incident to the Coordinating Center by completing 
a Participant Discontinuation Form.  
Reasons for discontinuation of the study intervention at a clinic research site include:  
1) Infrastructure unable to handle intervention (determined by quality monitoring). 
2) Discontinuation recommended by steering committee or sponsor 
3) Low-recruitment rate: less than 6 participants per month recruited 
Discontinued participants will continue to be followed with their permission if the study intervention is discontinued 
at the clinic research site.  
Discontinued participants will be followed up annually for 2 years from their date of enrollment for adverse events 
and serious adverse events/clinical outcomes of (1) death from any cause; (2) major macrovascular event: a 
composite of non-fatal MI, non-fatal stroke and death from any cardiovascular cause (based on investigator 
diagnosis); (3) microvascular events; and/or (4) major psychiatric event.  
Secondary outcomes which will be followed include:  
1) MI (non-fatal and fatal or revascularization procedure (angioplasty or CABG));  

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2) Stroke (non-fatal and fatal) 
3) Requirement for renal replacement therapy (dialysis or transplantation);  
4) Death from renal disease 
5) Development of severe diabetes-related eye disease (defined as the requirement for retinal 
photocoagulation or similar treatment and development of diabetes-related blindness in either eye in a 
participant known not to have this condition at study entry); and  
6) Major hypoglycemia episode (a hypoglycemic episode associated with transient central nervous system 
dysfunction without other apparent cause in which the individual was unable to treat him/herself and had 
help from another person to administer glucose or glucagon) 
7) Acute hyperglycemia (e.g., DKA)  
8) Amputation due to diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease 
9) Major infection requiring hospitalization (e.g., pneumonia)  
10) Any other health conditions/events. 
9.9 Data Safety 
The respective site coordinators and all study staff at each participating clinic research site will complete training in 
the protection of human subjects, including training in data handling and confidentiality. The project managers will 
administer all transfers, organization, storage, and back-up of study data. They will work closely with participating 
clinic investigators to ensure all data is secured and any edits can be tracked using: password-protected access; 
automated edit tracking; audit trails; validation tools for data-entry (split screen views); and encrypted transfer 
facilities.  
10 Data Analysis 
10.1 Primary and Secondary Health Outcomes 
 Participants in both arms will be invited for 6-monthly assessments [0, 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 month time-points] for 
blinded outcomes assessors. Data for health outcomes analyses will include demographic (age, sex, marital status, 
education, occupation, income, migration status), anthropometric data (height, weight, waist circumference), 
depression (SCL-20 and PHQ-9), and risk factor levels (fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, BP, lipid levels, and tobacco use). 
Data regarding patient-centered outcomes such as treatment satisfaction, quality of life and utility [reflects 
participants' judgments regarding different health states on a continuum from 0.0 (representing death) to 1.0 (perfect 
health)] will be collected using the Summary of Diabetes Self Care Activities, Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction 
Questionnaire, and Health Utilities Index-3. 
Data Analysis: Recruitment and retention of trial participants will be assessed by examining: number screened, 
number eligible to be randomized, number enrolling in the study, and dropout from regular testing at the 
completion of 36 months. We will test for differences in baseline characteristics to assess randomization using 
appropriate statistical tests for sample proportions [χ2] or means [t-tests]. Between-group differences in primary and 
secondary outcomes will be assessed at 12, 24 and 36 months, using the following indicators: 
 
Primary Outcome: At each time-point, we will test the unadjusted difference in the proportion achieving the 
primary outcome, which jointly evaluates depressive symptoms and CVD risk reduction.  

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 
Secondary Outcomes: Given the objective of assessing the cumulative benefits of a multi-component 
intervention, a “common treatment effect” will be tested on all four main targets [SCL-20, HbA1c, SBP, LDL-
c] jointly using a scaled marginal model.1 Each target, measured continuously, is scaled by its standard 
deviation and a single parameter is estimated representing the “common effect” on all targets. The 
advantage of this approach is that all targets can be measured continuously, thereby improving power, and a 
“common effect” in standard deviation units is produced. Katon18 used this approach in a similarly designed 
trial [the model is estimable using the SAS PROC GENMOD procedure 26 described by Roy].1  
 
Additional secondary outcomes that will be evaluated include: (1) a measure of “common effect,” i.e. 
whether the intervention had a similar beneficial effect on all four main targets [SCL-20, HbA1c, SBP, LDL-
c];1 proportion of participants achieving all 3 CVD risk factor targets; (2) mean reductions in four main 
targets [SCL-20 score; HbA1c; SBP; LDL-c]; (3) proportion of participants achieving treatment targets or 
significant reductions in individual risk factors (depression control [≥50% reduction in SCL-20]; glycemic 
control [HbA1c≤7.0% or ≥0.5% reduction]; BP control [SBP≤130 mmHg or ≥5mmHg reduction]; lipid 
control [LDL≤100 mg/dl or ≥10mg/dl reduction]; (4) mean utility, quality of life, and depression- and 
diabetes-specific patient satisfaction scores; and (5) mean health expenditures and within-trial cost-utility. 
All analyses will be conducted with both intention to treat (ITT) and per protocol analytical approaches. All treatment 
effects (primary and secondary outcomes) will be assessed using multivariate regression models adjusted for 
baseline characteristics. Generalized linear models will be estimated with appropriate link functions and error 
distributions for each outcome [e.g., logit models for dichotomous outcomes]. Heterogeneity in treatment effects 
across sites will be tested with interaction terms between site and the treatment variable. Similarly, heterogeneity in 
treatment effect by baseline age, gender, socioeconomic status, SCL-20, HbA1c, SBP, and LDL-c will also be 
evaluated. Robust standard errors will be estimated to account for within-site clustering [design effects].  
10.2 Economic Analyses 
Data regarding health utilization, costs, and quality of care will be collected through clinic chart reviews and 
questionnaires. Data on direct medical costs [inpatient, outpatient, prescription medication, and diagnostic services] 
will be collected, primarily using chart reviews [health service utilization] and pharmacy plus clinic administrative 
records [unit costs]. Since out-of-pocket health expenditures predominate in India, we will use a questionnaire to 
capture that data. The questionnaire also captures direct non-medical [value of participant time spent traveling to and 
attending appointments] and indirect costs [lost productivity associated with illness or premature mortality]. 
Economic Analyses: Health expenditures and within-trial cost utility of the intervention compared to usual care will 
be calculated using a health care system perspective as the base-case analysis and societal perspective for secondary 
analyses. Only direct medical costs in analyses with a health system perspective will be used, while societal 
perspective analyses will include direct medical and nonmedical, and indirect costs. 
To compare health expenditures between the intervention and usual care arms, costs will first be classified as: direct 
medical costs based on clinic- and pharmacy-reported data for health utilization and unit costs; patient-reported 
direct nonmedical costs; patient-reported indirect costs; and costs of the intervention from the clinic and study 
expenditures [e.g., labor costs for NCMs, costs for educational materials, and overhead costs (facility, administrative, 
and technology infrastructure) minus costs attributable only to research activities]. Costs associated with identifying 
individuals with comorbid depression will be summarized. Incremental costs of intervention [implementation, side-
effects of multi-condition care, and medical care associated] will be identified. Since in-patient costs over a 36 month 
study can vary greatly [outliers = a few random disease events], health expenditures will be estimated in two ways: 
(1) limited to outpatient costs, and (2) combined inpatient and outpatient costs. Because private and government-

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funded clinics are included in the trial, mean expenditures will be reported for the intervention arm relative to usual 
care participants by site and cumulatively. 
To compare the within-trial cost-utility of intervention to usual care, an incremental cost-utility ratio will be 
calculated [net costs to net utility: costsintervention – costscontrol / utilityintervention – utilitycontrol]. To calculate utility for each 
arm, 6-monthly health utility and mortality data will be used. The chosen measure of utility is the closest option to a 
global measure, the quality adjusted life year [QALY] and is calculated as the sum of mean survival time [life years] x 
utility scores at 6, 12, 18, 24 and 36 months. Twelve, 24 and 36 month costs per QALY will be reported.27  
If the trial is successful, we will consider comparing modeled long-term cost-utility of the intervention and usual care 
using Markov Chain Monte Carlo estimation techniques [controlling for age, gender, baseline risk and disease 
control].28 This will be compared to reference points from the literature – e.g., ceiling ratios for costs per QALY that 
are less than three times GDP per capita 29-31 are considered cost-effective [India’s 2011 GDP per capita was $3,700; 
threshold: ≤$11,100 per QALY]32. Sensitivity analyses will be used to examine the effects of varying discount rates, 
costs of the intervention, and effectiveness. 
11 Study Coordination 
11.1 Coordination Plans 
The trial has a designated Coordinating Center (at the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation) to oversee the 
successful design and conduct of the trial.  The Steering Committee will support and guide Coordinating Center staff, 
providing the scientific leadership for the trial. The Executive Committee serves as the operational arm, for day-to-
day management, and making any recommendations to the Steering Committee. The Executive Committee will be 
comprised of the Coordinating Center manager and co-Principal Investigators of the Study. 
The Coordinating Center, with input from the Steering Committee, is responsible for developing the protocol; 
certification of clinic research sites; developing and distributing procedural manuals; training trial personnel in the 
standardized protocol implementation and data collection; collecting and managing all trial data; quality control; 
analyzing data; and preparing reports for the Data Safety Monitoring Board, Steering Committee, and NIMH. The 
Coordinating Center staff will conduct visits to each site to monitor and assure high performance during the trial. 
11.2 Laboratories 
Central Coordination: The Coordinating Center and laboratory at the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation will 
coordinate the external quality assurance methods for all clinic research sites.  
Clinic Research Site Laboratories: The site laboratories will undergo external quality control checks arranged by the 
Coordinating Center for cross-site standardization.  
11.3 Administrative Clauses 
The administrative clauses relating to this protocol are covered by Clinical Trial Agreements (CTA) between the clinic 
research sites and the Coordinating Center plus the Trial Steering Committee. 
 
 

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Appendix A – PHQ-9 Checklist 
‡ 
                                                          
‡ Available at: http://www.lphi.org/LPHIadmin/uploads/.PHQ-9-Review-Kroenke-63754.PDF.  

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Appendix B – SCL 20 Questionnaire  
 
SCL-20 
 
Overall, in the past 2 weeks how much were you distressed by….  
 
 
Not at 
all 
A little 
bit 
Mod-
erately 
Quite a 
bit 
Ex-
tremely 
1. 
Feeling lonely or blue 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
2. 
Feeling hopeless about the future 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
3. 
Feeling no interest in things 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
4. 
Inability to take pleasure in things 
 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
5. 
Poor appetite 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
6. 
Overeating 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
7. 
Trouble falling asleep 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
8. 
Awakening in the early morning 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
9. 
Sleep that is restless or disturbed 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
10. 
Thinking, speaking and moving at a 
slower pace 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
11. 
Feeling so restless you couldn’t sit still 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
12. 
Thoughts of death or dying 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
13. 
Thoughts of ending your life 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
14. 
Feeling low in energy or slowed down 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
15. 
Feeling everything is an effort 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
16. 
Blaming yourself for things 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
17. 
Feelings of worthlessness 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
18. 
Feelings of guilt 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
19. 
Trouble concentrating 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
20. 
Difficulty making decisions 
0 
1 
2 
3 
4 
 
IF Q 13=3 or 4, Invoke self-harm protocol  

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