Remote Assessment of Prognosis In Depression (RAPID) Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploratory study on the use of remote measurement technologies to measure behaviour and assess prognosis in people attending psychological therapies for depression.
IRAS ID
270918
Contact name
Matthew Hotopf
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 21 days
Research summary
50% of people who receive psychotherapy for depression in the UK do not respond to treatment. It would be valuable to identify individualised markers of recovery within psychological treatments in order help identify which treatments work for whom.
Traditionally, the literature has tried to predict recovery by using subjective data obtained from clinical or self-reports, which is prone to inaccuracies and bias, or objective biological markers, which tend to only provide a ‘snapshot’ of a person’s state overlooking the inherent longitudinal variability in depression.
Remote measurement technologies (RMTs) such as smartphones and wearable devices have the potential to bridge this gap by providing a more precise and objective method that is sensitive to longitudinal changes in behaviour at the individual level. RMTs have embedded sensors that allow them to measure some of the behavioural elements associated with depression, such as sleep, activity and other lifestyle components.
The overarching aim of this project is to investigate the extent to which RMTs, such as smartphones and wearable devices, are suitable tools to infer behaviour and clinical state in people undergoing therapy for depressive disorders, and to determine whether they can be potentially useful markers of depression and recovery after treatment. The secondary aims include determining the extent to which behavioural features as measured via RMTs correlate with clinical characteristics and exploring whether these features have prognostic value in the context of psychological treatments.
50 adult participants will be recruited from the waiting lists of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services within the South London and Maudsley NHS trust. They will be awaiting psychotherapy for depression. Smartphones and wearable devices (i.e. Fitbit) will be used to monitor their behaviour throughout treatment and 6 months follow-up. They will also be asked to complete weekly questionnaires, speech and cognitive tasks.
REC name
London - Westminster Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/LO/0091
Date of REC Opinion
6 Mar 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion