Remote Assessment of Prognosis in Depression (RAPID): Focus Groups
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Acceptability of remote measurement techniques and devices from service users and clinicians, and their views on which factors more accurately represent response to treatment for people undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for depression.
IRAS ID
257020
Contact name
Matthew Hotopf
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
king's college london
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The use of mobile technology to obtain more objective measures of people's behaviour and emotional state is a promising method of informing clinical decisions within mental health services. Traditional methods of data collection such as retrospective interviews are prone to recall bias, especially in people with depression who may experience memory problems. To capitalise on its full potential, these methods need to be implemented bearing in mind stakeholders' views on the potential difficulties in its usage as well as suggestions for a more valuable and adaptive use.
This study will aim to find stakeholders' views (clinicians and service users) on the acceptability of data collection via wearable devices and mobile phones in people on the waiting list and currently in psychotherapy for depression. It will also aim to understand what clinical and digital factors they believe are relevant in the improvement of depressive symptoms.
All participants will be recruited from IAPT services in South London. Two experienced moderators will lead the two separate focus groups (one for service users and one for clinicians) of 6-8 people which will be carried out at King's College London, and will follow a semi-structured format. Responses will be analysed and later fed-back and to each participant individually for validation. A thematic analysis will be performed on the data collected to identify key themes relating to acceptability of digital data collection and factors indicative of symptom change.
Results will be disseminated, maintaining participant anonymity and confidentiality. Findings will also inform a further cohort study aiming to implement these technologies to identify potential digital biomarkers of treatment response and illness prognosis, which will, in turn, inform clinical decisions.
This study is sponsored by King's College London and funded by the NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre.
REC name
London - London Bridge Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/0662
Date of REC Opinion
9 May 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion