Research reportIncreasing the acceptance of internet-based mental health interventions in primary care patients with depressive symptoms. A randomized controlled trial
Section snippets
Background
Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders with a lifetime prevalence rate of 16% and higher (Alonso et al., 2004, Kessler et al., 2001). It is associated with a considerable quality of life decrement (Ustün et al., 2004) and substantial economic costs (Berto et al., 2000, Luppa et al., 2007). Moreover, depression is expected to become the leading cause of disability in high-income countries by 2030 (Mathers and Loncar, 2006).
Psychotherapy is one of the established evidence-based
Design & procedure
This was an experimental study, with a parallel group design in 128 primary care patients. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention group (IG) or the control group (CG) in a 1:1 ratio. Participants were recruited in Germany by two independent research assistants from May 2014 to June 2014 in two different medical practices in Germany. To be eligible for the study, participants were required to (a) be waiting for a scheduled treatment appointment in a waiting room of one of the
Results
Fig. 1 shows participant enrollment and flow throughout the study. Our final sample of 128 primary care patients were randomized to either the intervention or control group.
Discussion
The present work is one of the few studies investigating the acceptance of IBIs in primary care patients with depressive symptoms. Moreover, to our knowledge, the present study is the first to examine effects of an AFI consisting of a short informational video on patients׳ acceptance of IBIs in this population.
Acceptance rates in the CG indicate a relatively low acceptance of IBIs in depressed primary care patients, with 93.7% percent of the sample displaying only low to moderate acceptance.
Funding
This study as partly supported by a grant from the European Union (EFRE: ZW6-80119999, CCI 2007DE161PR001). Role of funding source: The funders played no role in study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, writing of the report, or in the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Author contributions
Designed the experiments, analyzed the data: DDE. Contributed to the design and analyses: MP. Contributed to the design: HB. Wrote the first draft of the manuscript: DDE, HB. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the data and the further writing of the manuscript: All authors. All authors agree with manuscript results and conclusions.
Competing Interests
There are no competing interests.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Sebastian Molkenbur and Bernhard Sieland for their help in developing the AFI and Franziska Gröner for her support in conducting the study.
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