Efficacy of Edupression.Com® in Depressive Patients
Condition: Depressive; Episode, Major; Recurrent Depressive Disorder, Current Episode Moderate; Recurrent Depressive Disorder, Current Episode Mild
MeSH terms: Recurrence; Depressive Disorder; Depression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The aim of the study is to investigate the efficacy and adherence of the digital self-help
      programme edupression.com®.
    

Detailed description: 
      The edupression.com® self-help app is an evidence-based low-level psychosocial intervention,
      which a can be used as as monotherapy as first-line treatment in mild to moderate depressive
      patients or as complimentary treatment independent of previous therapy response or depression
      severity. The two foundations of edupression.com® are evidence-based psychoeducation with CBT
      elements, as well as self-monitoring in the mood chart. Evidence for the efficacy of this
      approach stems from a large body of literature regarding eHealth (healthcare services
      provided electronically via the internet) applications in depression.

      This study's aim is to investigate edupression.com®'s capability to improve the illness
      course directly by reducing depressive symptoms (primary objective) and indirectly by
      fostering positive health care effects (secondary objective). The reduction of relapse risk
      and other preventive effects expected from other studies are beyond the time frame of this
      study. Beyond the evaluation of edupression.com®, this study could elucidate the general role
      of psychoeducation and mood tracking in online mental health to improve depression symptoms
      and adherence.

      Objectives: The primary objective is to test the clinical efficacy (at least 50% symptom
      reduction over a 3-month period) of edupression.com® in mild to moderate unipolar depressed
      patients. The secondary objective is to demonstrate positive health care effects within this
      3-month trial period such as psychoeducation, quality of life, patient empowerment and other
      factors.

      Study Design: The study design of this clinical trial is consistent with a monocentric,
      prospective, longitudinal, randomized controlled clinical trial. Patients, currently
      diagnosed with a mild to moderate major depressive episode (MDE) will be invited to use the
      digital self-help programme.

      Following the inclusion procedure, patients will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to two
      different treatment arms (A vs. B). Participants of the intervention arm will get full access
      to the edupression.com® website, while participants of the control arm will get access to a
      control version of edupression.com® limited to medically useful tips, that have not been
      shown to be effective in improving depressive symptoms in randomized controlled trials
      (RCTs).
    

Intervention name(s): edupression.com®; Health tips; Surveys; Popular psychological interventions
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Diagnostic Test; Other
Intervention description(s): Edupression.com® is an evidence-based self-help program that was developed for the treatment of mild to moderate unipolar depression. It is based on two core foundations, psychoeducation with elements of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and a mood chart. Both foundations are registered as a medical product. As such, detailed risk management documentation includes probability and severity of adverse events. Moreover, detailed strategies such as warnings were implemented in the software and documented accordingly.
It can be used on a PC as well as on mobile devices (browser, App) at any time.; Interventions that do not directly target depression: general health tips (diet, lifestyle, smoking, etc.), occupational health interventions (back pain prevention, breaks,...), etc.; Quizzes and surveys for course monitoring (including suicidality), but without extensive reports.; Popular psychological interventions, which have not been shown to be effective in studies: Affirmation phrases, motivational sayings and quotes (known also from calendars), tests (e.g., Rorschach interpretation), exercises (emotion recognition of faces), multimedia content (pleasant music, landscape images, interviews of famous people with depression), etc.
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Participant)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Depression; Internet-Based Intervention; Mobile Applications