Anxiety, Depression, Mental Health Issue
Conditions
Keywords
Digital Health, Recommender System, Mental Health, Telemedicine
Brief summary
Mental health concerns are a growing global concern, but support can still be difficult to access. Digital health technologies can help people access support, but with over 10,000 mental health apps available, it can be difficult to choose one that is safe, effective, and personalised. Syndi is a digital health platform that uses a machine learning system to provide personalised recommendations of mental health apps. This study aims to examine the impact of Syndi and its recommendations on the mental health and well-being of people with mental health concerns. The investigators will use the standard National Health Service (NHS) Talking Therapies measures of anxiety and depression, as well as additional measures of wellbeing and functional impairment to look at the impact of Syndi on patients' mental well-being. The investigators will also look at user experience with Syndi using a survey. Users' engagement with Syndi and its recommended apps will be assessed using a short survey and some participants will be randomly selected for an interview so the investigators can get a better understanding of what people liked and disliked about using the platform and why. The investigators expect that the project will show that using Syndi helps improve mental well-being in people with mental health concerns. If the study shows this positive impact, this will provide evidence to support the use of Syndi to improve the accessibility of mental health support in clinical pathways. The investigators will publish the results of the study in academic journals as well as in more accessible platforms.
Interventions
DEVICESyndi recommender system for mental health apps
Syndi is a mental health app recommendation system. It provides personalised suggestions of apps to help users self-manage their mental health based on a clinical assessment.
Sponsors
Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
University of Plymouth
Newcastle University
Study design
Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE
Masking description
As this is a single arm study, all participants will receive the intervention and no masking is required.
Intervention model description
All participants will be given access to Syndi immediately
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Based in the UK * Referred or self-referred to proceed through the standard NHS Talking Therapies care pathway OR people with mental health concerns looking for app recommendations online; * Willing and able to provide informed consent; * Aged 18 years or older; * Able to speak English; * Have access to the internet and own a smartphone.
Exclusion criteria
* Patients with a PHQ-9 score \>=20 * Patients with suicidal ideation measured as an answer of 'YES' to any question in the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS); * Incapable of self-consent; * In a dependent/unequal relationship with the research or care teams or any PPI representatives.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Depression Severity | 2 weeks and 3 months post-baseline | Score on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), total scores range from 0 to 27 (higher scores indicate more severe depression) |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Wellbeing | 2 weeks and 3 months post-baseline | Score on the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (SWEMWBS), total scores range from 7 to 35 (higher scores indicate better wellbeing) |
| Functional Impairment | 2 weeks and 3 months post-baseline | Score on the Work and Social Adjustment Scale (WSAS), total scores range from 0 to 40 (higher scores indicate higher functional impairment) |
| Engagement with recommended apps | 2 weeks post-baseline | Self-report questionnaire about engagement with recommended apps (subjective, with questions about which apps were downloaded, how long they used it for, and how useful they found the app) |
| Anxiety Severity | 2 weeks and 3 months post-baseline | Score on the Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), total scores range from 0 to 21 (higher scores indicate more severe anxiety) |
| User perceptions of the system | Semi-structured interview call, 2 months after start of the trial | Qualitative feedback from semi-structured interviews about Syndi |
| User perceptions of the recommended apps | Semi-structured interview call, 2 months after start of the trial | Qualitative feedback from semi-structured interviews about the apps recommended by Syndi |
| User experience with the Syndi recommender system | Immediately after app recommendations and at 2 weeks post-baseline | Score on a user experience questionnaire. Items were assessed individually on a scale from 1-5, with higher scores indicating better experience (negative items were reverse coded) |
Countries
United Kingdom
Outcome results
None listed