WellPATH-PREVENT: A Mobile Intervention for Middle-Aged and Older Adults Hospitalized for Suicidal Ideation or Attempt

The goal of this project is to test whether WellPATH-PREVENT (a novel, mobile psychosocial intervention) improves a specific aspect of emotion regulation, i.e., cognitive reappraisal ability, and reduces suicide risk in middle-aged and older adults (50-90 years old) who have been discharged after a suicide-related hospitalization (i.e. for suicidal ideation or suicide attempt).

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Depression; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide, Attempted
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: WellPATH-PREVENT; Behavioral: Optimized WellPATH-PREVENT

Detailed Description

R61 Phase: In this "proof-of-concept" phase, interventionists will administer 12 weeks of WellPATH-PREVENT in 40 middle-aged and older adults who have been discharged after being hospitalized for suicidal ideation or suicide attempt. The interventionist will help the patient incorporate the appropriate data (i.e., triggers, negative emotions, cognitive reappraisal techniques) into the tablet, train the patients on how to use the tablet, and coach them during the 12 weeks. There will be 4 assessments: At study entry (admission/during hospitalization), hospital discharge, 6, and 12 weeks. An EEG will be conducted upon entry into the study, at Week 6, and at Week 12.

R33 Phase: 75 middle-aged and older adults who have been recently discharged after a hospitalization for suicidal ideation or attempt will be recruited and randomized to an optimized version of WellPATH-PREVENT (Week 6 and Week 12 duration based on R61 results) or to Attention Control-Usual Care with a tablet (AC-UC). There will be 5 assessments: At study entry (admission/during hospitalization), discharge, 6, 12 and 24 weeks. Participants who exit the study prior to completion will be invited to have an assessment before termination as close to the scheduled time point as possible. Psychiatrically re-hospitalized participants will not be dropped from the study but will have an additional assessment and will continue the assessments as scheduled based on their initial hospitalization.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 115
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Dimitris Kiosses, PhD; Phone Number: 914-997-4381; Email: dkiosses@med.cornell.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Laurie Evans, MS; Phone Number: 1012570 914-682-9100; Email: lad9011@med.cornell.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10065
      • Not yet recruiting
      • New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medicine
      • Contact: Dimitris Kiosses, PhD; Phone Number: 914-997-4381; Email: dkiosses@med.cornell.edu
      • Contact: Laurie Evans, MS; Phone Number: 1012570 914-682-9100; Email: lad9011@med.cornell.edu
    • White Plains, New York, United States, 10605
      • Recruiting
      • Weill Cornell Institute of Geriatric Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medicine
      • Contact: Dimitris Kiosses, PhD; Phone Number: 914-997-4381; Email: dkiosses@med.cornell.edu
      • Contact: Laurie Evans, MS; Phone Number: 1012570 914-682-9100; Email: lad9011@med.cornell.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 50 years to 90 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• 50-90 years old
• Diagnosis (based on a modified SCID-5 Clinical Trials Version to assess DSM-5 diagnoses): Any DSM-5 except: current diagnosis of Psychotic Disorder; diagnosis of Dementia
• Recent hospitalization for suicidal ideation or suicide attempt; at hospital admission, Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (CSSR-S) ≥ 2, "Non-specific Active Suicidal Thoughts."
• We will also include patients on psychotropics and on after-care community psychotherapy.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current diagnosis of Psychotic Disorders; Diagnosis of Dementia
• Cognitive Impairment (MMSE ≤ 24)
• Acute or severe medical illness (i.e., delirium; decompensated cardiac, liver or kidney failure; major surgery; stroke or myocardial infarction during the three months prior to entry
• Aphasia, sensory problems, and/or inability to speak English.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Proof-of-Concept WellPATH-PREVENT (R61)	Behavioral: WellPATH-PREVENT; WellPATH-PREVENT is a novel personalized, easy to use, mainly stand-alone mobile intervention which focuses on the exclusive use of the WellPATH tablet app and includes training meetings during hospitalization, and virtual post-discharge coaching meetings. The meetings aim to: a) identify stressors and triggers of negative emotions associated with increased suicidal ideation or with suicidal behavior; b) develop techniques (text or video) to increase cognitive reappraisal ability; c) incorporate the techniques into the WellPATH app and promote the use of WellPATH during stressful incidents, triggers of negative emotions, or scheduled brief training sessions; and d) remotely update the triggers, negative emotions, and techniques in the app.
Experimental: Optimized WellPATH-PREVENT (R33)	Behavioral: Optimized WellPATH-PREVENT; The Optimized WellPATH-PREVENT intervention will be as described above, but based on the results of the Proof-of-Concept (R61) Phase, an expert committee will help select the duration (6 or 12 weeks) that shows greater improvement in cognitive reappraisal.
No Intervention: Attention Control Usual Care (R33); The AC-UC group will parallel the delivery of the WellPATH-PREVENT intervention and will also include: a) meetings during hospitalization: a non-clinical member of the team will present the control tablet and explain its use; b) scheduled or requested meetings through zoom: to parallel the delivery of WellPATH-PREVENT. The tablet will still have a link to schedule a meeting with a non-clinician member of the team. The meetings will focus on issues that the patient may have in using the tablet. There will not be any therapeutic or psychological interaction between participants in the control group and the team. The experimental and the control group will also be under usual outpatient care, which is arranged during the hospitalization by the inpatient treatment team.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in Event Related Potential - Late Positive Potential (ERP/LPP) - R61	ERP is used to measure the amplitude (magnitude) of electrocortical activity (measured in μV) during an emotion regulation task.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12
Change in Event Related Potential - Late Positive Potential (ERP/LPP) - R33	ERP is used to measure the amplitude (magnitude) of electrocortical activity (measured in μV) during an emotion regulation task.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12, Week 24
Change in Self-Reported Affect - R61	Self-reported affect is used to study changes in negative emotions during an EEG emotion regulation task. It is based on a participant's rating of negative emotions (Likert scale: 1-5; 5 most negative) during the task.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12
Change in Self-Reported Affect - R33	Self-reported affect is used to study changes in negative emotions during an EEG emotion regulation task. It is based on a participant's rating of negative emotions (Likert scale: 1-5; 5 most negative) during the task.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12, Week 24
Change in Emotion Regulation (Cognitive Reappraisal Subscale of ER Questionnaire) - R61	ERQ is an interviewer-administered instrument to evaluate cognitive reappraisal ability. Scores can range from 1-7, where higher scores indicate greater use of emotion regulation strategies and lower scores indicate less frequent use of such strategies.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12
Change in Emotion Regulation (Cognitive Reappraisal Subscale of ER Questionnaire) - R33	ERQ is an interviewer-administered instrument to evaluate cognitive reappraisal ability. Scores can range from 1-7, where higher scores indicate greater use of emotion regulation strategies and lower scores indicate less frequent use of such strategies.	Study Entry, Week 6, Week 12, Week 24
Change in Client Satisfaction with Treatment (CSQ) - R61	Client Satisfaction Questionnaire is a self-report that measures patient satisfaction with intervention/treatment. Scores can range from 3-12, where higher values indicate higher satisfaction.	Week 6, Week 12
Change in Client Satisfaction with Treatment (CSQ) - R33	Client Satisfaction Questionnaire is a self-report that measures patient satisfaction with intervention/treatment. Scores can range from 3-12, where higher values indicate higher satisfaction.	Week 6, Week 12, Week 24
Change in Suicide Risk - Columbia Suicide Severity Scale (C-SSRS) - R61	C-SSRS is used to measure intensity of suicidal ideation. Scores range from 0-5, where higher scores indicate more severe ideation.	Weekly from Study Entry to Week 12 (R61)
Change in Suicide Risk - Columbia Suicide Severity Scale (C-SSRS) - R33	C-SSRS is used to measure intensity of suicidal ideation. Scores range from 0-5, where higher scores indicate more severe ideation.	Weekly from Study Entry to Week 24

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Dimitris Kiosses, PhD, Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): April 22, 2022
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 30, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 20, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 20, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 10, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 20, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Older Adults; Middle Aged Adults
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Self-Injurious Behavior; Suicide; Suicidal Ideation; Suicide, Attempted
• Other Study ID Numbers: 21-12024207; 1R61MH128516 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data from this study is submitted to the National Database for Clinical Trials related to Mental Illness (NDCT). The NDCT is run by NIH and allows researchers studying mental health to collect and share information with each other. Researchers must apply to NIH in order to be allowed access to the data for 1 year's time; after which they must re-apply.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Data will be available as per NIH's data sharing policy.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Access criteria is determined by NIH and can be requested by applying online.

Drug and device information, study documents

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