Development of a digital biomarker and intervention for subclinical depression: study protocol for a longitudinal waitlist control study
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Date
2023-06-22
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
Background
Depression remains a global health problem, with its prevalence rising worldwide. Digital biomarkers are increasingly investigated to initiate and tailor scalable interventions targeting depression. Due to the steady influx of new cases, focusing on treatment alone will not suffice; academics and practitioners need to focus on the prevention of depression (i.e., addressing subclinical depression).
Aim
With our study, we aim to (i) develop digital biomarkers for subclinical symptoms of depression, (ii) develop digital biomarkers for severity of subclinical depression, and (iii) investigate the efficacy of a digital intervention in reducing symptoms and severity of subclinical depression.
Method
Participants will interact with the digital intervention BEDDA consisting of a scripted conversational agent, the slow-paced breathing training Breeze, and actionable advice for different symptoms. The intervention comprises 30 daily interactions to be completed in less than 45 days. We will collect self-reports regarding mood, agitation, anhedonia (proximal outcomes; first objective), self-reports regarding depression severity (primary distal outcome; second and third objective), anxiety severity (secondary distal outcome; second and third objective), stress (secondary distal outcome; second and third objective), voice, and breathing. A subsample of 25% of the participants will use smartwatches to record physiological data (e.g., heart-rate, heart-rate variability), which will be used in the analyses for all three objectives.
Discussion
Digital voice- and breathing-based biomarkers may improve diagnosis, prevention, and care by enabling an unobtrusive and either complementary or alternative assessment to self-reports. Furthermore, our results may advance our understanding of underlying psychophysiological changes in subclinical depression. Our study also provides further evidence regarding the efficacy of standalone digital health interventions to prevent depression.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
11 (1)
Pages / Article No.
186
Publisher
BioMed Central
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
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Date collected
Date created
Subject
Depression; Anxiety; Stress; Digital health; Digital biomarker; Breathing training; Conversational agent
Organisational unit
03681 - Fleisch, Elgar / Fleisch, Elgar
03681 - Fleisch, Elgar / Fleisch, Elgar