Evaluation of a Mobile Phone App for Veterans With PTSD

April 24, 2019 updated by: Jason Owen, VA Palo Alto Health Care System
The purpose of this study is to evaluate a mobile phone app designed to help Veterans with PTSD. Participants in this study will be randomized to receive one of 2 possible mobile phone apps. The term "randomized" means that which app a participant receives will not be based on any characteristic or behavior of the participant, but will be determined solely by chance like a flip of a coin.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Participants will receive access to the mobile app "PTSD Coach". Participants will be randomized (by computerized coin flip) to one of two versions of the mobile app. All versions of the app will provide comprehensive information and tools for managing trauma symptoms, but one version of the app will provide personalized, confidential coaching messages delivered by either a Veteran peer or clinical psychologist. Participants will be asked to complete an online survey before using the mobile phone application and again 8 weeks later. Participants will be provided with the option to complete a telephone interview after 8 weeks of using the mobile phone application. To be eligible, participants must be a U.S. military Veteran, age 18 or older, have received a previous diagnosis of PTSD, and own an iPhone or iPad device.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

101

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • Menlo Park, California, United States, 94025
        • VA Palo Alto Health Care System Menlo Park Division

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • U.S. military Veteran
  • age 18 or older
  • previously diagnosed with PTSD
  • own an iPhone or iPad device

Exclusion Criteria:

  • no previous history of PTSD

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: PTSD Coach with no Coaching
Participants will receive the PTSD coach mobile app.
Behavioral: Active Comparator
Mobile phone application providing extensive information about PTSD and treatment, tools for managing PTSD symptoms, self-monitoring using the PTSD Checklist, and resources for obtaining support.
Experimental: PTSD Coach with Peer Coaching
Participants will receive the PTSD Coach + mobile app which will provide routine, personalized coaching for 8 weeks from a Veteran peer.
Behavioral: Personalized App Coaching
All coaching messages will be based on how each participant responds to baseline survey questionnaires and how they interact with the experimental mobile phone application during the course of the study. Participants will be provided with feedback about recent progress & use of the app, information about coping strategies provided by the app, and a recommendation for making the best use of the app over the subsequent few days.
Experimental: PTSD Coach with Clinician coaching
Participants will receive the PTSD Coach + mobile app which will provide routine, personalized coaching for 8 weeks from a clinical psychologist.
Behavioral: Personalized App Coaching
All coaching messages will be based on how each participant responds to baseline survey questionnaires and how they interact with the experimental mobile phone application during the course of the study. Participants will be provided with feedback about recent progress & use of the app, information about coping strategies provided by the app, and a recommendation for making the best use of the app over the subsequent few days.
Experimental: PTSD Coach with Automated Coaching
Participants will receive the PTSD Coach + mobile app which will provide automated, personalized coaching for 8 weeks.
Behavioral: Personalized App Coaching
All coaching messages will be based on how each participant responds to baseline survey questionnaires and how they interact with the experimental mobile phone application during the course of the study. Participants will be provided with feedback about recent progress & use of the app, information about coping strategies provided by the app, and a recommendation for making the best use of the app over the subsequent few days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
PTSD Checklist 5
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Measures symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder
8 weeks
Functional Well-Being
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Measures functional well-being of Veterans across a number of domains, including self-care, romantic relationships, work, family functioning, and parenting. Subscale scores will be aggregated to create a summary score for this measure.
8 weeks
Engagement with the Application
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Objectively-measured engagement with the intervention (# sessions)
8 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Self-Efficacy for Coping
Time Frame: 8 weeks
Self-efficacy for managing symptoms of PTSD using an author-constructed outcome measure.
8 weeks
Perceived Helpfulness of Intervention
Time Frame: 8 weeks
How helpful the intervention was for providing information and tools for managing PTSD.
8 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

VA Palo Alto Health Care System

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

July 1, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 20, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

June 27, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 26, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 24, 2019

Last Verified

April 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB-31533

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

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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