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BMC Psychiatry
Published in: BMC Psychiatry 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Randomized controlled pilot trial of supportive text messages for patients with depression

Authors: Vincent I. O. Agyapong, Michal Juhás, Arto Ohinmaa, Joy Omeje, Kelly Mrklas, Victoria Y. M. Suen, Serdar M. Dursun, Andrew J. Greenshaw

Published in: BMC Psychiatry | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Depression is projected to be the primary cause of disability worldwide by 2030. In a recent survey, the most commonly cited unmet need among 42.4% of depressed Albertans was the lack of sufficient, accessible, and affordable counselling. Our aim was to test the efficacy of a supportive text messaging mobile health intervention in improving treatment outcomes in depressed patients.

Methods

We performed a single-rater-blinded randomized trial involving 73 patients with Major Depressive Disorder. Patients in the intervention group (n = 35) received twice-daily supportive text messages for 3 months while those in the control group (n = 38) received a single text message every fortnight thanking them for participating in the study. The primary outcome of this study was: “Mean changes in the BDI scores from baseline“.

Results

After adjusting for baseline BDI scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean BDI scores between the intervention and control groups: (20.8 (SD = 11.7) vs. 24.9 (SD = 11.5), F (1, 60) = 4.83, p = 0.03, ηp2 = 0.07). The mean difference in the BDI scores change was significant with an effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.67. Furthermore, after adjusting for baseline scores, a significant difference remained in the 3 month mean self-rated VAS scores (EQ-5D-5 L scale) between the intervention and control groups, 65.7 (SD = 15.3) vs. 57.4 (SD = 22.9), F (1, 60) =4.16, p = 0.05, ηp2 = 0.065. The mean difference in change mean self-rated VAS scores was also statistically significant with an effect size (Cohen’s d) of 0.51.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that supportive text messages are a potentially useful psychological intervention for depression, especially in underserved populations. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of our findings in larger clinical samples.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02327858. Registered 24 December 2014.
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Metadata
Title
Randomized controlled pilot trial of supportive text messages for patients with depression
Authors
Vincent I. O. Agyapong
Michal Juhás
Arto Ohinmaa
Joy Omeje
Kelly Mrklas
Victoria Y. M. Suen
Serdar M. Dursun
Andrew J. Greenshaw
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Psychiatry / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-244X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-017-1448-2

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