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Efficacy of a Smartphone Suicide Prevention App

Efficacy of a Smartphone Suicide Prevention App: A Single-blind, Randomized, Controlled Multicenter Study

Status
Not yet recruiting
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT07160465
Acronym
PreventS
Enrollment
632
Registered
2025-09-08
Start date
2025-09-30
Completion date
2028-03-31
Last updated
2025-09-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Suicide, Suicide Attempt

Keywords

Suicide, Suicide attempt

Brief summary

It is an interventional research, single-blind, randomized, controlled, multicenter, which involves only minimal risks and constraints. Patients who attend to the emergency department following a SA (Suicidal Attempt) represent a key group of patients with an extremely high risk of suicide in the short term. A main problem in suicide prevention is that the increase of symptoms and suicidal risk occurs most often in the natural environment of patients, away from the system of care. Thus, the main goal in allowing real-time risk detection would facilitate immediate interventions, probably the best way to prevent a suicidal act. Additionally, the evolution of the suicidal crisis is very variable from one subject to another, in duration and symptoms, and often very brief. In contrast, the tools used to assess suicidal thoughts have so far been limited to intermittent assessments separated by weeks, months or years, which does not take into account the fact that suicidal thoughts can be highly variable over a few hours and that suicide attempts can occur in response to a rapid increase in thoughts over periods as short as the day. Mobile health (mHealth) interventions are the only that can respond to these fluctuations over time. We have developed the first French app (emma) for EMA (Ecological Momentary Assessment) , customised EMI (Ecological Momentary Intervention) and prediction of SB (suicidal behaviour). It was designed by integrating evidence-based suicide prevention strategies and recommendations for the development of apps in the field of mental health. Emma helps to strengthen the patient's connection to his healthcare system and social network. This study led to the development and subsequent deployment of VigilanS. VigilanS is a multi-regional innovative care program for the prevention of suicide relapse, which has been implemented in several emergencies departments in France. Our hypothesis is that emma offers an unprecedented opportunity to increase the efficiency of VigilanS, both for patients, by restoring their social connections, and for health professionals, in a simple, fast and efficient way. Thanks to emma, the patient will have daily support adapted to his condition (emotion management modules, safety plan, calls in case of emergency). Emma will fit easily into the daily practice of health professionals (little binding, little time consuming) and will complete the range of care organized by VigilanS. The main objective is to evaluate over a 6-months follow-up the efficacy of a smartphone app (emma) in addition to the VigilanS program on the prevention of a suicidal event (suicide, SA, hospitalization or emergency department for suicidal ideation) compared to the VigilanS program only.

Detailed description

632 participants will be enrolled and randomized into 2 groups: * Control group: 316 suicide attempters will benefit from the VigilanS program alone * Interventional group: 316 suicide attempters will benefit from the emma app in addition to VigilanS The duration of inclusions is 24 months. Each patient's participation period is 6 months and includes three visits (inclusion, at 3 and 6 months). At each visit, a clinical assessment will be performed to characterise psychopathology and suicidal characteristics.

Interventions

OTHERemma application

1. Emma will allow the patient to spontaneously contact the VigilanS tele-clinician team via a simple and quick access (when the patient presses an ergonomic button with the VigilanS logo). He can also contact the National Service for Suicide Prevention (3114) or the French national emergency medical assistance service 24/7 (Samu). 2. Experts of the field have defined response thresholds for targeted questions on suicide risk and emotional tension. If the patient's answers to these questions reach these thresholds, emma will automatically send a message to the nearest VigilanS center. In this case, a message will appear indicating to the patient that the nearest center will contact him as soon as possible, encourage him to review his strategies and resources available on the app's Home and direct him to the breathing space. 3. Emma offers a Safety Plan module that will allow the patient to help him/her to put into practice what he/she will develop with the VigilanS team on a daily bas

Sponsors

Fondation FondaMental
CollaboratorOTHER
University Hospital, Montpellier
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Subject aged 18 or over * Subject benefiting from the VigilanS program (after an admission to an emergency ward following a suicide attempt) * Subject with his own smartphone (iOS/Androïd) * Subject able to understand the nature, purpose and methodology of the study * Subject must be covered by public health insurance * Signed informed consent form

Exclusion criteria

* Subject unable to read or/and write French * Planned longer stay outside the region that prevents compliance with the visit plan * Being protected by the law (tutorship or curatorship) * Being deprived of liberty by administrative decision * Being in a period of exclusion compared to another protocol * Pregnant and breastfeeding women

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
occurrence of a suicidal eventwithin 6 months of inclusion.The primary endpoint is the occurrence of a suicidal event (suicide, SA, hospitalization, or emergency admission for suicidal ideation) within 6 months of inclusion.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
psychological painUp to 6 months after study inclusionLevel of psychological pain assessed by a validated Likert scale.
Level of depressionUp to 6 months after study inclusionLevel of depression assessed by QIDS
LonelinessUp to 6 months after study inclusionLevel of loneliness assessed by ESUL
suicidal ideationUp to 6 months after study inclusionIntensity and severity of suicidal ideation assessed with C-SSRS.
hopelessnessUp to 6 months after study inclusionLevel of hopelessness assessed by BHS
Objective and subjective connections with the healthcare systemnumber of care visit until the end of the study, an average of 6 monthsNumber of care visits for psychiatric problems and/or suicidal ideation
Objective and subjective experience of the app (interventionnal group only)Up to 6 months after study inclusionFrequency of connection.
social isolationUp to 6 months after study inclusionLevel of social isolation assessed by ISI

Countries

France

Contacts

Primary ContactPhilippe COURTET, MD PhD
p-courtet@chu-montpellier.fr+33 4 67 33 85 81
Backup ContactEmilie OLIE, MD PhD
e-olie@chu-montpellier.fr+33 4 67 33 85 81

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026