A Pilot Investigation of Clinician-guided Internet-Delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Depressed Patients

NCT ID: NCT04100785

Last Updated: 2019-09-24

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 55 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2015-08-09
• Study Completion Date: 2017-07-16

Brief Summary

This study aims to explore the efficacy and acceptability of a clinician-guided internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) programme for patients with depression, in Singapore.

Detailed Description

All outpatients, from the Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, who are diagnosed with a primary diagosis of mild to moderate depression and were referred to the Psychology Department for therapy were invited to take part in this research. Participants were randomised into two groups: iCBT Intervention Group and Delayed Waitlist-Control Group. The four-week iCBT programme comprised of three face to face 30-minute sessions with a clinician and six online modules).The treatment group is hypothesised to exhibit pre-post improvements in depressive symptoms, compared to the control group.

Conditions

Depressive Symptoms

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT)

The iCBT programme comprised of 6 online modules, delivered over 4 weeks, with 3 face-to-face sessions provided by a clinician.The face-to-face sessions were conducted at week 1, 3 and 4. The objectives of the face-to-face sessions was for participants to discuss with the clinician about the application of the content of the modules and the active therapeutic interventions were all found in the online modules.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The iCBT programme comprised on 6 online modules. Module 1 provided an introduction to the symptoms of depression, its causes and information on CBT. Module 2 covered problem-solving strategies. Module 3 provided information on problematic thought patterns and beliefs in depression. Module 4 entailed identifying problematic thought patterns and using various techniques to counter problematic thoughts. Module 5 covered pleasurable activities scheduling to help increase activity levels.

Delayed Wait-list control

The delayed wait-list control did not receive any therapy interventions for 4 weeks from the pre-treatment assessment and from the fifth week onwards, they received the same intervention as the iCBT experimental group.

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Internet-delivered Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

The iCBT programme comprised on 6 online modules. Module 1 provided an introduction to the symptoms of depression, its causes and information on CBT. Module 2 covered problem-solving strategies. Module 3 provided information on problematic thought patterns and beliefs in depression. Module 4 entailed identifying problematic thought patterns and using various techniques to counter problematic thoughts. Module 5 covered pleasurable activities scheduling to help increase activity levels.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• 21 to 65 years old
• Not currently seeing a therapist for any form of invidual or group therapy
• Diagnosed with a primary diagnosis of depression by IMH psychiatrist
• A total score of above 9 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9; Kroenke et al., 2001), indicating at least mild symptoms
• If using medication for depression then on a stable dose for at least 1 month,
• Provides informed consent
• Able to read and speak at least Primary 6 level English
• Adequate IT skills to operate iCBT programme

Exclusion Criteria

• Severe depression (i.e. score = 23 on PHQ-9)
• Strong suicidal ideation (i.e. score > 2 on Question 9 of the PHQ-9)
• Current active suicidal intention or plan
• Presenting problem is not depression
• Does not meet the minimum English language requirements stated above
• Participants who are concurrently attending other forms of group/individual psychotherapy

• Minimum Eligible Age: 21 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Institute of Mental Health, Singapore

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Sharon HX Lu, DPsych

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Institute of Mental Health, Singapore

Other Identifiers

2015/00404

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id