Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The STEP trials

A round-up of the STEP phase 3 clinical trials evaluating semaglutide for weight loss in people with overweight or obesity.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Trials
Published in: Trials 1/2020

Open Access 01-12-2020 | COVID-19 | Study protocol

Efficacy of a web application for stress management among Iranian college students during COVID-19 outbreak: a study protocol for randomized controlled trials

Authors: Fatemeh Khademian, Azam Aslani, Ramin Ravangard, Peivand Bastani, Mohammad Nami, Peyman Jafari

Published in: Trials | Issue 1/2020

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

The prevalence of mental health disorders is increasing globally, and the prevalence of COVID-19 has made it worse. Evidence has indicated a major mental health burden and elevated anxiety associated with the new coronavirus outbreak in the general population. This study aims to evaluate an evidence-based web application (Naranj) for stress management among Iranian college students.

Methods and design

This study aims to present a protocol related to a randomized controlled trial among Iranian college students. The study will be conducted on 100 students from two colleges of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran. The participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group participants will be provided with a web application, whereas the control group ones will be provided with an app unrelated to stress management. The primary outcome for this study will be the Perceived Stress Scale, and the two groups will be compared with respect to stress level and sleep quality.

Discussion

A web application will be developed according to psychological theories and will be scientifically approved for managing college students’ stress and improving their sleep quality during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Trial registration

Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT201604270276​47N2. Registered on 14 May 2020
Literature
1.
2.
Su T-P, Lien T-C, Yang C-Y, Su YL, Wang J-H, Tsai S-L, et al. Prevalence of psychiatric morbidity and psychological adaptation of the nurses in a structured SARS caring unit during outbreak: a prospective and periodic assessment study in Taiwan. J Psychiatr Res. 2007;41(1–2):119–30.CrossRef
3.
Huang Y, Zhao N. Generalized anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms and sleep quality during COVID-19 outbreak in China: a web-based cross-sectional survey. Psychiatry Res. 2020;288:112954.
4.
Lee SA. Coronavirus anxiety scale: a brief mental health screener for COVID-19 related anxiety. Death studies. 2020;44(7):393–401.CrossRef
5.
Rajkumar RP. COVID-19 and mental health: A review of the existing literature. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020;52:102066.
6.
Rehman U, Shahnawaz MG, Khan NH, Kharshiing KD, Khursheed M, Gupta K, et al. Depression, anxiety and stress among Indians in times of Covid-19 lockdown. Community Ment Health J. 2020:1–7.
7.
Furer P, Walker JR, Chartier MJ, Stein MB. Hypochondriacal concerns and somatization in panic disorder. Depress Anxiety. 1997;6(2):78–85.CrossRef
8.
Rodríguez-Rey R, Garrido-Hernansaiz H, Collado S. Psychological impact and associated factors during the initial stage of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic among the general population in Spain. Front Psychol. 2020;11:1540.
9.
Steel Z, Marnane C, Iranpour C, Chey T, Jackson JW, Patel V, et al. The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980-2013. Int J Epidemiol. 2014;43(2):476–93.CrossRef
10.
World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2001: Mental health: new understanding, new hope. World Health Organization; 2001.
11.
Organization WH. mhGAP: Mental Health Gap Action Programme: scaling up care for mental, neurological and substance use disorders. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2008.
12.
13.
Noorbala AA, Faghihzadeh S, Kamali K, Yazdi SAB, Hajebi A, Mousavi MT, et al. Mental health survey of the Iranian adult population in 2015. Arch Iran Med. 2017;20(3):0.
14.
World Health Organization. The World Health Report: Mental disorders affect one in four people; 2001.
15.
Metrics IfH, Evaluation. Global Burden of Disease Collaborative Network. Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 (GBD 2016) results. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Seattle; 2017.
16.
17.
Fink G. Stress: The health epidemic of the 21st century. Elsevier SciTech Connect; 2016.
18.
Kulkarni SH, Vaidya RR, Jadhav SA. Stress, its consequences and ways to combat it in modern era. Stud Indian Place Names. 2020;40(42):185–91.
19.
Noorbala AA, Rafiey H, Alipour F, Moghanibashi-Mansourieh A. Psychosocial stresses and concerns of people living in Tehran: a survey on 6000 adult participants. Iran J Psychiatry. 2018;13(2):94.PubMedPubMedCentral
20.
Mirzaei M, Ardekani SMY, Mirzaei M, Dehghani A. Prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress among adult population: results of Yazd Health Study. Iran J Psychiatry. 2019;14(2):137.PubMedPubMedCentral
21.
Lian Z, Wallace BC. Prevalence of past-year mental disorders and its correlates among Chinese international students in US higher education. J Am Coll Heal. 2020;68(2):176–84.CrossRef
22.
Alotaibi AD, Alosaimi FM, Alajlan AA, Abdulrahman KAB. The relationship between sleep quality, stress, and academic performance among medical students. J Fam Community Med. 2020;27(1):23.
23.
Islam S, Akter R, Sikder T, Griffiths MD. Prevalence and factors associated with depression and anxiety among first-year university students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. Int J Ment Heal Addict. 2020:1–14.
24.
Fawzy M, Hamed SA. Prevalence of psychological stress, depression and anxiety among medical students in Egypt. Psychiatry Res. 2017;255:186–94.CrossRef
25.
Borjalilu S, Mohammadi A, Mojtahedzadeh R. Sources and severity of perceived stress among Iranian medical students. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2015;17(10):e17767.
26.
Tariq S, Tariq S, Tariq S, Jawed S. Perceived stress, severity and sources of stress among female medical students in a private medical college in Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc. 2020;70(1):162–7.
27.
Pitt A, Oprescu F, Tapia G, Gray M. An exploratory study of students’ weekly stress levels and sources of stress during the semester. Act Learn High Educ. 2018;19(1):61–75.CrossRef
28.
Segal J, Smith M, Melinda S, MA R, Robinson L. Stress Symptoms, Signs and Causes: Improving your Ability to Handle Stress. Trusted guide to mental, emotional & social health HELPGUIDE ORG. 2018.
29.
Polinski KJ, Bemis EA, Feser M, Seifert J, Demoruelle MK, Striebich CC, et al. Perceived Stress and Inflammatory Arthritis: A Prospective Investigation in the Studies of the Etiologies of Rheumatoid Arthritis Cohort. Arthritis Care Res. 2020;72(12):1766–71.
30.
Silverman AL, Herzog AA, Silverman DI. Hearts and minds: stress, anxiety, and depression: unsung risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Cardiol Rev. 2019;27(4):202–7.CrossRef
31.
Afrisham R, Paknejad M, Soliemanifar O, Sadegh-Nejadi S, Meshkani R, Ashtary-Larky D. The influence of psychological stress on the initiation and progression of diabetes and cancer. Int J Endocrinol Metab. 2019;17(2):e67400.
32.
Ramani S, Pathak A, Dalal V, Paul A, Biswas S. Oxidative stress in autoimmune diseases: an under dealt malice. Curr Protein Pept Sci. 2020;21(6):611–21.
33.
Khademian F, Rezaee R, Pournik O. Randomized controlled trial: the effects of short message service on mothers’ oral health knowledge and practice. Community Dent Health. 2020;37:1–7.
34.
Masaki K, Tateno H, Nomura A, Muto T, Suzuki S, Satake K, et al. A randomized controlled trial of a smoking cessation smartphone application with a carbon monoxide checker. NPJ Digital Med. 2020;3(1):1–7.CrossRef
35.
Huberty J, Puzia M, Eckert R, Larkey L. Cancer patients’ and survivors’ perceptions of the calm app: cross-sectional descriptive study. JMIR Cancer. 2020;6(1):e16926.CrossRef
36.
Anthes E. Pocket psychiatry: mobile mental-health apps have exploded onto the market, but few have been thoroughly tested. Nature. 2016;532(7597):20–4.CrossRef
37.
Grist R, Porter J, Stallard P. Mental health mobile apps for preadolescents and adolescents: a systematic review. J Med Internet Res. 2017;19(5):e176.CrossRef
38.
Salehi F, Kermani ZA, Khademian F, Aslani A. Critical appraisal of mental health applications. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2019;261:303–8.PubMed
39.
KHademian F, Montazer MRA, Aslani A. Web-based health information seeking and eHealth literacy among college students: a self-report study. Investigación y educación en enfermería. 2020;38(1):3.CrossRef
40.
Wang C, Zhao H. The impact of COVID-19 on anxiety in Chinese university students. Front Psychol. 2020;11:1168–75.
41.
Harrer M, Adam SH, Fleischmann RJ, Baumeister H, Auerbach R, Bruffaerts R, et al. Effectiveness of an internet-and app-based intervention for college students with elevated stress: randomized controlled trial. J Med Internet Res. 2018;20(4):e136.CrossRef
42.
Adair JG. The Hawthorne effect: a reconsideration of the methodological artifact. J Appl Psychol. 1984;69(2):334.CrossRef
43.
Sepahvand T, Gilani B, Zamani R. The relationship between explanatory style. J Psychol Educ. 2009;38(4):27–43.
44.
Afkham Ebrahimi A, Bandi G, Salehi M, Tafti K, Vakili Y, Farsi A. Sleep parameters and the factors affecting the quality of sleep in patients attending selected clinics of Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital. Razi J Med Sci. 2008;15:31–8.
Metadata
Title
Efficacy of a web application for stress management among Iranian college students during COVID-19 outbreak: a study protocol for randomized controlled trials
Authors
Fatemeh Khademian
Azam Aslani
Ramin Ravangard
Peivand Bastani
Mohammad Nami
Peyman Jafari
Publication date
01-12-2020
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
COVID-19
Published in
Trials / Issue 1/2020
Electronic ISSN: 1745-6215
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04949-0

Other articles of this Issue 1/2020

Trials 1/2020 Go to the issue

Study protocol

T-tube drainage versus choledochojejunostomy in hepatolithiasis patients with sphincter of Oddi laxity: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Study protocol

Corticosteroid injection plus exercise versus exercise, beyond advice and a heel cup for patients with plantar fasciopathy: protocol for a randomised clinical superiority trial (the FIX-Heel trial)

Review

Reporting of key methodological and ethical aspects of cluster trials in hemodialysis require improvement: a systematic review

Study protocol

An efficacy and safety study of rivaroxaban for the prevention of deep vein thrombosis in patients with left iliac vein compression treated with stent implantation (PLICTS): study protocol for a prospective randomized controlled trial

Letter

Cov-hep study: heparin in standard anticoagulation based on citrate for continuous veno-venous hemodialysis in patients with COVID-19: a structured summary of a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Study protocol

A pilot protocol to assess the feasibility of a virtual multiple crossover, randomized controlled trial design using methylphenidate in mild cognitive impairment