Depressive Disorders
Conditions
Keywords
follow up care, e-mail, effectiveness, depressive disorders
Brief summary
The primary objective of this study is to test in a randomized effectiveness trial if e-mail delivered cognitive behavioural treatment is an effective follow-up care approach in the treatment of depression under clinically representative conditions.
Detailed description
Depression belongs to the most prevalent mental disorders and often goes along with a high burden of disease. Although the efficacy and the effectiveness of psychological treatments for depressive disorders have been demonstrated, there remains the problem of maintaining the benefits achieved during the initial treatment phase. Therefore options of follow-up care have to be considered. Since access to psychotherapeutic treatments is limited and costly, internet-based interventions can offer a feasible opportunity for follow-up care in order to enhance the long-term effectiveness of psychotherapy.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALE-mail follow up care
After having terminated inpatient CBT patients receive follow up care by email for 12 weeks (on average one contact per week). The follow up care aims at supporting the patients in continuing exercises in order to cope with depression.
Sponsors
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Depressive disorder: F32.0-F32.2; F33.0-F33.2; F34.1 according to ICD-10 * Precursory CBT * Internet access
Exclusion criteria
* No knowledge of the German language * Risk of suicide * Acute psychosis or psychotic symptoms * Established concurrent in vivo CBT after discharge from inpatient CBT
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Measure of the severity of depression - Beck Depression Inventory (BDI- II) | Change in the BDI-II from baseline (beginning of treatment) to follow up (3 months after termination of the follow-up care) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Measure of health related quality of life - SF-8 | Change in the SF-8 from baseline (beginning of treatment) to follow up (3 months after termination of the follow-up care | SF-8: short version of the SF -36 |
| GAD-7 | Change in the GAD-7 from baseline (beginning of treatment) to follow up (3 months after termination of the follow-up care) | Measure for generalized anxiety disorder |
| Depressive relapse/recurrence | Measured at follow up (3 months after termination of the follow-up care) | — |
Countries
Germany
Outcome results
None listed