Trial results for a study investigating Depression were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-10-27. The study compared Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Depression (CBT-D) with and without a tailored mobile skills app, noting a least squares mean of 23.798 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) for the augmented group versus 18.004 for the CBT-D group.
Background
Depression is a prevalent psychological disorder, affecting an estimated 18.5% of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) Veterans. Enhancing the rates of depression recovery and remission is crucial for improving these Veterans' ability to adjust to work and home life, and their overall quality of life. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a leading therapeutic approach for depression within the VA system. However, OEF/OIF/OND Veterans have reported challenges in consistently engaging with CBT skills practice assignments, a core component of the therapy. Smartphone applications have been recognized as a potentially useful and widely adopted tool to address such barriers.
Trial design
This completed study, designated as Phase NA, enrolled 15 participants to investigate Depression. The trial aimed to determine if adding a tailored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) mobile skills app could mediate rates of depression. Participants were divided into two groups: one receiving CBT-D augmented with a CBT MobileWork-V app, and another receiving CBT-D alone.
Key results
The trial reported key measurements for cognitive therapy skills and patient health:
- Skills of Cognitive Therapy (Patient Version) (units on a scale):
- For the "CBT-D Augmented With CBT MobileWork-V" group, the mean was 24.231 (Standard Deviation 1.495).
- For the "CBT-D" group, the mean was 24.231 (Standard Deviation 1.495).
- Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (units on a scale):
- For the "CBT-D Augmented With CBT MobileWork-V" group, the least squares mean was 23.798.
- For the "CBT-D" group, the least squares mean was 18.004.
What this means
The posted results indicate that for the "Skills of Cognitive Therapy (Patient Version)" outcome, both the CBT-D augmented group and the CBT-D alone group showed an identical mean score of 24.231 with a standard deviation of 1.495. For the "Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9)", the group augmented with the CBT mobile app showed a least squares mean of 23.798, which was higher than the 18.004 observed in the CBT-D alone group. A higher PHQ-9 score typically suggests more pronounced depressive symptoms. These findings suggest that in this small cohort, the addition of the mobile app did not reduce PHQ-9 scores and did not differentiate on cognitive therapy skills.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT04002063, titled "Does Adding a Tailored Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Mobile Skills App Mediate Rates of Depression", were posted on 2025-10-27 on clinicaltrials.gov.