A Pilot Study of the Effect of Personalized Depression Risk Communication

Summary

Depression is a highly prevalent and disabling mental health problem. It is associated with significant morbidity and mortality and it has a significant economic impact. Effective and feasible strategies aimed at the population-level to reduce the risk of onset are urgently needed to manage this ubiquitous condition. Developed from research in the fields of epidemiology, mental health, and implementation science, the proposed intervention provides individualized information designed to trigger actions that can reduce the risk of MDE. Specifically, and as the first step, the investigators developed the first sex-specific multivariable risk predictive algorithms (MVRPs) for MDE using data from over 10,000 Canadians. This innovative early work shows that the risk of onset of MDE can be quantified in the same way as can other physical disorders such as cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Knowing the individualized risk estimated by the MVRPs may serve as a trigger to empower people to actively engage in effective self-help actions. Self-help strategies are commonly used to deal with depression and promoting effective self-help strategies to the public as an early intervention strategy has been recommended as one way to reduce the large disease burden of depression. Subsequently, the investigators conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and found that providing individualized depression risk causes no psychological harm in participants. These studies have laid the required foundation for communicating individualized risk information to a broad population as a first step towards effecting changes in self-help and help-seeking behaviours and reducing the risk of MDE onset.

Using the MVRPs as the foundation and working with future users, the investigators developed a personalized depression risk communication tool (PDRC) for sharing information about individualized depression risk, risk profile (risk factors present), potential risk reduction, and self-help strategies. At this stage of our research program, the investigators need to answer the question: Does the PDRC lead to positive changes in self-help and help-seeking behaviours? Prior to a large scale RCT, the investigators proposed to conduct a pilot study to gain preliminary understanding about the effect of PDRC on self-help and help-seeking behaviors. The results will inform the design of a large RCT.

Conditions

• Depression
• Psychological Distress

Interventions

OTHER

PDRC

Personalized depression risk communication.

OTHER

Coach guidance

Coaching service to guide the understanding of PDRC and answer questions.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Calgary

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Jianli Wang · University of Ottawa

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

PREVENTION

Masking

TRIPLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2020-11-13

Primary Completion

2021-12-31

Completion

2022-05-01

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations