Conclusions/limitations
- Insomnia Coach may provide an accessible and convenient public health intervention for patients who aren’t receiving adequate care or CBT.
- Limitations: Because this study evaluated only veterans, the findings might not be generalizable to other populations.
8. Dahne J, Lejuez CW, Diaz VA, et al. Pilot randomized trial of a self-help behavioral activation mobile app for utilization in primary care. Behav Ther. 2019;50(4):817-827. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2018.12.003
Previous mobile technologies have shown the ability to treat depression in primary care settings. Moodivate is a self-help mobile app based on the Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression, which is an evidence-based treatment. This app is designed to help the user reengage in positive, nondepressed activities by identifying, scheduling, and completing activities. Dahne et al12 investigated the feasibility and efficacy of Moodivate for depressive symptoms in primary care patients.
Study design
- Participants (N = 52) were recruited from primary care practices and randomized 2:2:1 to receive Moodivate, a CBT-based mobile app called MoodKit, or treatment as usual (no app). All participants had an initial PHQ-8 score >10.
- Participants completed assessments of depressive symptoms (PHQ-8) weekly for 8 weeks.
- App analytics data were captured to examine if the use of Moodivate was feasible. (Analytics were not available for MoodKit).
Outcomes
- Participants who used Moodivate had a mean (SD) of 46.76 (30.10) sessions throughout the trial, spent 3.50 (2.76) minutes using the app per session, and spent 120.76 (101.02) minutes using the app in total.
- Nearly 70% of Moodivate participants continued to use the app 1 month after trial enrollment and 50% at the end of the 8-week follow-up period.
- Compared to the treatment as usual group, participants who used Moodivate and those who used MoodKit experienced significant decreases in depressive symptoms over time.
Conclusions/limitations
- The results show that for primary care patients with depression, the use of Moodivate is feasible and may reduce depressive symptoms.
- Limitations: For the first 3 months of enrollment, patients who met diagnostic criteria for a current major depressive episode were excluded. This study did not assess duration of medication use (ie, whether a study participant was stabilized on medication or recently started taking a new medication) and therefore could not ascertain whether treatment gains were a result of the use of the app or of possible new medication use.