iCBT for Depression - Standard Versus Condensed Treatment Material (KONRAD)

Örebro County Council

Status: Completed

Conditions: Major Depression

Treatments: Behavioral: Condensed internet-based cognitive behavior therapy; Behavioral: Standard internet-based cognitive behavior therapy

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01788657

Dnr 63:2012

Details and patient eligibility

About

Internet-based cognitive behavior therapy (iCBT) has been shown effective for depression in several studies, however the investigators know very little about how the written treatment material should be designed to be effective and at the same time acceptable to the patients. The investigators are not aware of any research that has investigated if slow readers, or persons with difficulty concentrating, can use the standard material or if they would benefit more from using an adapted version.

In this study the investigators will assess reading speed and the ability to concentrate in all patients and then randomise them to an internet-based treatment for depression using either a standard material or a condensed one. The condensed material consists of 30000 words and will be available as text files and on audio files. The standard material consists of 60000 words and is only available as text files. Both groups will have the possibility of e-mail contact with a personal therapist during the treatment.

Patients will be recruited within Örebro County by referrals and self-referrals. The goal is to recruit between 200 and 300 patients during 2 years. The treatment time will be 10 weeks and all patients will be assessed for depression at an interview with a psychologist. There will also be interviews after treatment and one year after treatment. The most important outcome will be depressive symptoms.

Enrollment: 273 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Fullfill criteria for diagnosis of major depression
• Being able to read and write Swedish
• Have access to the internet
• Being a resident in Örebro county

Exclusion criteria

• Severe depressive symptoms (>34 on the MADRS-S)
• High risk for suicide
• Attending cognitive behavior therapy
• Psychosis
• Bipolar disorder
• Addiction to alcohol or illegal drugs
• A somatic or psychiatric condition that is a contraindication for iCBT or in some way debars iCBT, or have to be treated before depression

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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273 participants in 2 patient groups

Standard internet-based cognitive behavior therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Standard internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for depression with a written treatment material consisting of 60000 words (textmaterial only).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Standard internet-based cognitive behavior therapy

Condensed internet-based cognitive behavior therapy

Experimental group

Description:

Condensed internet-based cognitive behavior therapy for depression with a written treatment material consisting of 30000 words (available as text or audio).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Condensed internet-based cognitive behavior therapy