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Brief Reports
Published Online: 22 December 2022

Effect of Integrating Patient-Generated Digital Data Into Mental Health Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Raina M. Merchant, M.D., M.S.H.P. [email protected], Lauren Southwick, M.P.H., Rinad S. Beidas, Ph.D., David S. Mandell, Sc.D., Sharath Chandra Guntuku, Ph.D., Art Pelullo, M.S., Lin Yang, M.S., Nandita Mitra, Ph.D., Brenda Curtis, Ph.D., Lyle Ungar, Ph.D., and David A. Asch, M.D., M.B.A.Authors Info & Affiliations
Publication: Psychiatric Services
Volume 74, Number 8
https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20220272
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Abstract

Objective:

The authors sought to determine whether providing summaries of patients’ social media and other digital data to patients and their clinicians improves patients’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measured by the RAND 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36).

Methods:

The authors randomly assigned 115 adults receiving outpatient mental health therapy to usual care or to periodic sharing of summaries of their digital data with their clinician providing psychosocial therapy. The study was conducted October 2020–December 2021.

Results:

Patients’ mean±SD age was 31.3±10.5 years, and 82% were women. At 60 days after enrollment, no statistically significant change was detected in SF-36 scores for patients randomly allocated to the intervention (mean difference=−0.39, 95% CI=−4.17, 3.39) or to usual care (mean difference=−1.98, 95% CI=−5.74, 1.77), and no significant between-arm difference was observed (between-arm difference=1.60, 95% CI=−3.67, 6.86).

Conclusions:

Collecting and summarizing digital data for use in mental health treatment was feasible for patients but did not significantly improve their HRQoL or other measures of mental health.

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Supplementary Material

File (appi.ps.20220272.ds001.docx)

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Psychiatric Services
Go to Psychiatric Services
Psychiatric Services
Volume 74 • Number 8 • August 01, 2023
Pages: 876 - 879
PubMed: 36545773

History

Received: 23 May 2022
Revision received: 3 November 2022
Accepted: 9 November 2022
Published online: 22 December 2022
Published in print: August 01, 2023

Keywords

  1. Telecommunications
  2. Smartphones
  3. Social media
  4. Digital mental health

Authors

Affiliations

Raina M. Merchant, M.D., M.S.H.P. [email protected]
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Lauren Southwick, M.P.H.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Rinad S. Beidas, Ph.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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David S. Mandell, Sc.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Sharath Chandra Guntuku, Ph.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Art Pelullo, M.S.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Lin Yang, M.S.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Nandita Mitra, Ph.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Brenda Curtis, Ph.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Lyle Ungar, Ph.D.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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David A. Asch, M.D., M.B.A.
Center for Digital Health (Merchant, Southwick, Guntuku, Pelullo, Ungar) and Center for Health Care Innovation (Asch), Penn Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Departments of Emergency Medicine (Merchant, Southwick), Psychiatry (Beidas, Mandell), and Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics (Mitra), Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; Department of Medical Social Sciences, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago (Beidas); Penn Cardiovascular Outcomes, Quality, and Evaluative Research Center, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Yang); Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Baltimore (Curtis); Department of Computer and Information Science, School of Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (Ungar, Guntuku).
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Notes

Send correspondence to Dr. Merchant ([email protected]).

Competing Interests

Dr. Merchant received funding from Once Upon a Time Foundation. Dr. Beidas is owner and principal at Implementation Science & Practice, L.L.C.; she receives royalties from Oxford University Press, consulting fees from United Behavioral Health and OptumLabs, and serves on the advisory boards for Optum Behavioral Health, AIM Youth Mental Health Foundation, and the Klingenstein Third Generation Foundation. Dr. Asch is a partner and part owner of VAL Health and has received speaking fees from Deloitte, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and MARS Veterinary Group; his institution has received funding from UnitedHealth Group, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, and the Once Upon a Time Foundation. The other authors report no financial relationships with commercial interests.

Funding Information

Dr. Merchant and Ms. Southwick are cofirst authors.This study was supported by the Once Upon a Time Foundation and in part by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Dr. Curtis). ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT04011540.

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