Detecting and Evaluating Childhood and Anxiety and Depression Effectively in Subspecialties (DECADES)

The DECADES trial seeks to determine the comparative effectiveness of specialist-centered management of anxiety and depression vs. an imbedded and automated psychology referral for all subjects who screen positive for anxiety or depression.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Depression; Anxiety
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Notification of Subspecialist; Other: Automated Psychology Services

Detailed Description

SPECIFIC AIMS: Mental Health and Quality of Life in Children with Gastrointestinal Disorders Depression and anxiety are two of the most common and dangerous disorders in childhood and adolescence. Currently, a large proportion of children with these disorders remain unrecognized or untreated resulting in considerable morbidity and mortality. The rates of depression and anxiety are significantly higher in children with chronic illnesses, including gastrointestinal disorders, than in the general population. Furthermore, children with depression or anxiety are far more likely to have somatic complaints, and have greater utilization of subspecialty care, especially in gastroenterology. Functional gastrointestinal disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic recurrent abdominal pain, and functional dyspepsia frequently have comorbid anxiety or depression.

Efforts to recognize and treat mental health problems in children with chronic medical illness, such as gastrointestinal disorders, have been shown to improve adherence to therapy, as well as other clinical outcomes. More importantly, improving such mental health problems might go far to addressing the outcomes patients care about most with respect to their gastroenterological disease. Unfortunately, mental health resources are often difficult for families to access, even when these disorders are recognized.

Validated screening tools exist to screen for anxiety and depression in children and adolescents, including the Screen for Childhood Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). Despite the established importance of depression and anxiety in the gastrointestinal health of children and adolescents, few data exist describing the treatment of anxiety and depression by pediatric gastroenterologists. Furthermore, little is known about how families or patients view the subspecialty office as the setting to detect or care for mental illness. Additionally, if anxiety and depression are identified by the gastroenterologist, many practitioners find either they have limited training and expertise in the management of adolescent mental health disorders, or they encounter barriers to referral to a mental health specialist, especially in children with public insurance.

Therefore, the specific aims of this research project are to:

Aim 1: Determine family and patient attitudes towards tools to screen for mental illness in a pediatric subspecialty office utilizing structured interviews.

Sub Aim 1a: Determine patient and family attitudes toward anxiety and depression screening in a subspecialty office.

Sub Aim 1b: Determine outcomes of importance to patients and families related to anxiety and depression in a pediatric subspecialty office.

Aim 2: Develop an integrated approach that accounts for family and patient preferences as determined in Aim 1, to deliver anxiety and depression screening instruments to new and established patients in a pediatric gastroenterology clinic.

Aim 3: Perform a pre-post comparative effectiveness trial comparing screening in a pediatric gastroenterological clinic with notification of the physician to screening in a pediatric gastroenterological clinic with the addition of a psychologist, with respect to the patient-centered outcomes identified in Aim 1.

Completion of these aims will allow the investigators to develop an integrated process to screen for depression and anxiety in a high-risk population. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from piloting depression and anxiety screening will help the investigators to determine attitudes towards this approach in the pediatric subspecialty setting, which will maximize outcomes from the visit that are important to patients and their families.

The investigators hypothesize that a combined approach that screens for depression and anxiety within the gastroenterology clinic and also provides for access to a psychologist who is integrated with the clinic will lead to superior clinical and patient-centered outcomes. However the investigators may find that screening patients and then alerting the gastroenterology provider may be sufficient to recognize and treat mental health disorders effectively. Comparing the effectiveness of these two strategies is therefore important and is the overall focus of this proposal.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 100
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Indiana
    • Carmel, Indiana, United States, 46074
      • Indiana University Health North Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 18 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All patients seen at the pediatric GI office who are screened for anxiety and depression as part of usual care.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients over the age of 18 or under the age of 10.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Usual Subspecialty Care; Once a subject is screened positive for anxiety or depression, the subspecialty provider is informed of the positive screen, and left to manage or refer the condition as per usual care by that provider. Intervention: Depression / anxiety screen + clinician informed.	Other: Notification of Subspecialist; The automated screening tool determines a positive or negative screen, then informs the clinician.
Active Comparator: Integrated Psychology Care; Once a subject is screened positive for anxiety or depression, an automated psychology referral occurs, in addition to any intervention determined by the subspecialty provider. Intervention: Depression / anxiety screen + clinician informed + automated psychologist visit.	Other: Automated Psychology Services; The automated screening tool determines a positive or negative screen, then informs the clinician, and also automates a psychology visit.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quality of life (baseline)	Baseline quality of life measurement will be determined using the PedsQL instrument. Both the general PedsQL instrument and the PedsQL gastroenterology symptom index will be used for baseline and followup measures. PedsQL Minimum score: 0 (Worse outcome) PedsQL Maximum score: 100 (Better outcome)	Baseline
Quality of life (followup)	Baseline quality of life measurement will be determined using the PedsQL instrument. Both the general PedsQL instrument and the PedsQL gastroenterology symptom index will be used for baseline and followup measures. PedsQL Minimum score: 0 (Worse outcome) PedsQL Maximum score: 100 (Better outcome)	Within 6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Utilization of endoscopy	The investigators will compare the use of endoscopy, radiologic testing, laboratory testing, emergency department utilization, and repeat gastroenterology outpatient visits. Frequency of each of these will be compared between control and intervention arms.	Within 6 months
Utilization of radiologic testing	The electronic medical record will be queried by the RA and the total number of radiologic tests ordered over 6 months will be computed.	6 months
Utilization of laboratory testing	The electronic medical record will be queried by the RA and the total number of laboratory tests ordered over 6 months will be computed.	6 months
Utilization of emergency department visits	The electronic medical record will be queried by the RA and the total number of emergency department visits over 6 months will be computed.	6 months
Utilization of outpatient gastroenterology	The electronic medical record will be queried by the RA and the total number of outpatient gastroenterology visits over 6 months will be computed.	6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Indiana University
• Collaborators: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 18, 2017
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 19, 2015
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 12, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): May 16, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 23, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 19, 2022
• Last Verified: August 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Mental Disorders; Mood Disorders; Depression; Depressive Disorder; Anxiety Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: DECADES

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No