Background Unipolar and bipolar disorder combined account for nearly half of all morbidity and mortality due to mental and substance use disorders, and burden society with the highest health care costs of all psychiatric and neurological disorders. Among these, costs due to psychiatric hospitalization are a major burden. Smartphones comprise an innovative and unique platform for monitoring and treatment of depression and mania. No prior trial has investigated whether the use of a smartphone-based system can prevent re-admission among patients discharged from hospital.
Methods The RADMIS trials use a randomized controlled single-blind parallel-group design. Patients with unipolar disorder and patients with bipolar disorder are invited to participate in each their trial when discharged from psychiatric hospitals in The Capital Region of Denmark following an affective episode and randomized to either 1) a smartphone-based monitoring system including a) an integrated feedback loop between patients and clinicians and b) context-aware CBT modules (intervention group) or 2) standard treatment (control group) for a 6-months trial period. The trial is started in March 2017. The outcomes are 1) differences in the number and duration of re-admissions between the intervention group and the control group (primary), 2) differences in severity of depressive and manic symptoms (manic symptoms only for patients with bipolar disorder); differences in psychosocial functioning; and differences in number of affective episodes between the intervention group and the control group (secondary), and 3) differences in perceived stress, quality of life, self-rated depressive symptoms, self-rated manic symptoms (only for patients with bipolar disorder), recovery, empowerment, adherence to medication, well-being, ruminations, worrying, and satisfaction between the intervention group and the control group (tertiary).
Analysis Recruitment is ongoing.
Discussion If the smartphone-based monitoring system is proved effective in reducing the rate and duration of re-admissions there will be basis for using a system of this kind in the treatment of unipolar and bipolar disorder in general and in a larger scale.
