Treatment Uptake Chatbot for Eating Disorders

The Washington University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Eating Disorders

Treatments: Behavioral: Psychoeducation; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation; Behavioral: Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Personalized Recommendation; Behavioral: Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration; Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing; Behavioral: Core Modules Only; Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other; NIH

Identifiers

NCT04806165

202007008

K08MH120341 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Details and patient eligibility

About

Eating disorders (EDs) are serious mental illnesses associated with high morbidity and mortality, clinical impairment, and comorbid psychopathology. Although evidence-based treatments for EDs have been established, the treatment gap is wide. Indeed, <20% of individuals with EDs receive treatment. There is need for a novel solution not only to identify individuals with EDs but also to encourage mental health services use and to address treatment barriers. This study aims to implement a conversational agent or "chatbot" that is optimized to increase mental health services use among individuals with EDs through such features as: 1) education on the seriousness and consequences of EDs; 2) engaging the user in motivational interviewing to overcome barriers to care; 3) providing a personalized recommendation for seeking intervention; 4) repeated check-ins with the user to encourage follow-up with care. This study will utilize a randomized optimization trial with adults who have completed screening on the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) website and screen positive for an ED but are not in treatment to determine chatbot feasibility and to generate data on the effect of the chatbot on motivation for treatment and mental health services use. This trial will employ the Multiphase Optimization Strategy framework, using a 2^4 full factorial design, to randomly assign participants to a combination of the four proposed intervention components (n=16 conditions) to isolate the active ingredients.

Enrollment: 205 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• U.S. resident
• English-speaking
• Age 18 years or older
• Owns a personal smartphone
• Screens positive for a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5) clinical or subclinical eating disorder
• Not currently receiving treatment for an eating disorder

Exclusion criteria

• Non-U.S. resident
• Younger than 18 years old
• Does not own a personal smartphone
• Does not screen positive for a DSM-5 clinical or subclinical eating disorder
• Screens positive for Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder
• Currently receiving treatment for an eating disorder

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Factorial Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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205 participants in 16 patient groups

Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Repeated Administration

Personalized Recommendation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personalized Recommendation

Motivational Interviewing

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing

Core Modules Only

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Core Modules Only

Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration

Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation

Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Psychoeducation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation

Psychoeducation, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Repeated Administration

Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation

Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing

Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation

Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Repeated Administration

Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: Psychoeducation, Motivational Interviewing, Personalized Recommendation, Repeated Administration