A Pilot Study of eHealth Tools in a Tertiary-care Setting
Condition: Depression
MeSH terms: Depression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This feasibility study investigates the use of eHealth tools within routine medical treatment
      for patients with depression in an outpatient psychiatric setting. The study investigates
      whether patients find a mobile-optimized online eHealth tool to be acceptable and feasible,
      and whether clinical and functional outcomes improve with use of the online eHealth tool,
      compared to informational online resources for mental health.
    

Detailed description: 
      Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is increasingly recognized as the most common psychiatric
      disorder and as one of the most common medical diagnoses worldwide.

      Measurement-based care (MBC) is an evidence-based approach for providing effective clinical
      care to patients with MDD. MBC utilizes validated rating scales to assess symptom severity,
      functional impairments, treatment adherence, and side-effect burden to personalize clinical
      decision-making based on measured outcomes and clinical algorithms. However, despite evidence
      demonstrating improved outcomes, MBC is still not routinely used by physicians. Barriers to
      the use of MBC include lack of knowledge of which scales to use, how to incorporate
      measurements into clinical charting systems, and the extra time needed for repeated
      assessments.

      Our research team developed a web-based application (app) optimized for mobile devices to
      address the treatment gap in MBC for people with depression, especially those who are working
      while depressed. This user-friendly eHealth tool encourages patients to actively participate
      in MBC by using their smartphones, tablets, or computers to screen, monitor, and manage
      depressive symptoms and functional outcomes. Results can be easily displayed and printed to
      share with clinicians, thereby affording health professionals a simple and cost-effective
      means to integrate MBC into standard practices and to optimize treatment for MDD at the point
      of care, without needing additional materials, equipment, or staffing.

      This research study investigates the feasibility of using a mobile-optimized online eHealth
      tool to support MBC in routine clinical care for MDD within an outpatient psychiatric
      setting.

      To determine both the clinical and practical utility of eMBC, this study will enroll
      "real-world" patients with few exclusion criteria and undergoing naturalistic treatments so
      that findings will be generalizable to other clinical settings and practices.

      Note: As of April, 2020 (before recruitment started), because of the pandemic the study
      protocol was changed to be fully virtual, with a change in the primary outcome to a patient
      feasibility outcome.
    

Intervention name(s): Online eHealth tool; Informational website
Intervention type(s): Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Mobile-optimized online eHealth tool to support MBC.; Participants randomized to this group will receive information about online resources for mental health
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Health Services Research
Keywords: Measurement-Based Care; e-Mental Health; Functional Outcomes; Occupational Functioning; Cognition; Mobile Technology