Digital Interventions for Adults with Treatment-Resistant Depression: a Pilot Study
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- This is an observational study: the protocol does not assign a study treatment.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Major Depressive Episode, Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Canada
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Official title
Determining the Feasibility of Digital Interventions for Adults with Treatment-Resistant Depression
Overview
The goal of this observational study is to learn about remote mental health monitoring technology for adults with treatment-resistant depression. The main question it aims to answer is: are digital mental health monitoring tools (an electronic data capture platform and wearable device (e.g., smartwatch or smart-ring)) feasible to implement alongside clinical treatment for depression? The secondary aim of this study is to inform preliminary clinical parameters for larger, definitive studies. Participants receiving neuropsychiatric treatment (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, intravenous ketamine, or electroconvulsive therapy) as part of their regular medical care for treatment-resistant depression in the Interventional Psychiatry Program will have their clinical assessment data entered into a digital platform and will wear an accessory-based wearable device for the duration of treatment.
Detailed description
This observational study with retrospective data analysis is conducted in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) undergoing neuropsychiatric clinical treatment (rTMS, IVK, or ECT) in the Interventional Psychiatry Program (IPP) at St. Michael's Hospital. Participants will have scores from a self-report assessment of anxiety (GAD-7) and a self-report (PHQ-9) or clinician-administered (MADRS) assessment of depression completed as part of clinical care entered into the Research Electronic Database Capture (REDCap) web-based platform after each treatment session. This will facilitate retrospective analysis of mental health symptom change and treatment response over the course of treatment. Participants will also have the opportunity to wear an accessory-based wearable device (e.g., smartwatch or ring) throughout the course of treatment to passively capture physiological biometrics of physical and mental health (e.g., heart rate, temperature, sleep, activity). This two-year pilot study aims to recruit a total of 200 participants with TRD to retrospectively assess the feasibility and efficacy of integrating remote health sensing and monitoring platforms in psychiatric clinical care.
Primary outcome measures
- Feasibility [Time frame: From Screening and Baseline Visit (Day 0) to last treatment day (approximately 2-8 weeks depending on treatment group)]
Secondary outcome measures (3)
- Longitudinal Changes in Symptom Presentation [Time frame: From Screening and Baseline Visit (Day 0) to last treatment day (approximately 2-8 weeks depending on treatment group)]
- Predicting Treatment Response, Remission, and Relapse [Time frame: From Screening and Baseline Visit (Day 0) to last treatment day (approximately 2-8 weeks depending on treatment group)]
- Personalized Digital Phenotype Profiling (pDPP) [Time frame: From Screening and Baseline Visit (Day 0) to last treatment day (approximately 2-8 weeks depending on treatment group)]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
- Adults (aged 18+) who are capable of giving informed consent
- Patients meeting diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) without psychotic symptoms according to the DSM-5
- Currently experiencing a major depressive episode (MDE)
- Montgomery-Asperg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score greater than 20 at screening
- Patients meeting criteria for treatment-resistant depression (TRD): failure of 2 or more adequate trials of antidepressant therapy of adequate dose and duration during the current episode
- Enrollment in one of the treatment modalities (rTMS, IVK, or ECT) at the Interventional Psychiatry Program at St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto
- Ownership of a smartphone (for participants using wearable devices)
Exclusion criteria
- Individuals without Internet access (required to access study platforms)
- Medication changes, aside from the treatment received through the IPP, one month (28 days) before screening, or during the entire duration of treatment (variable based on treatment arm)
- Participants who do not speak English fluently enough to successfully communicate study information, answer questions accurately, and/or obtain informed consent
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: No
Study design
- Observational model
- Case-only
Study locations
Canada · 1 center
- St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto — Toronto
Publications
- Parkington K, Aguilar RJ, Lee GH, Rueda A, Adamsahib F, Al-Hassan M, Famuditimi S, Menzies P, Lin Q, Lou W, Krishnan S, Bhat V. Digital health monitoring for adults with treatment-resistant depression: Observational feasibility study protocol. PLoS One. 2025 Oct 24;20(10):e0333484. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0333484. eCollection 2025. PMID 41134764
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06732089 · 21-274 · Miner's Lamp Foundation