Digital health technologies and major depressive disorder

Abstract

There is an urgent need to improve the clinical management of major depressive disorder (MDD), which has become increasingly prevalent over the past two decades. Several gaps and challenges in the awareness, detection, treatment, and monitoring of MDD remain to be addressed. Digital health technologies have demonstrated utility in relation to various health conditions, including MDD. Factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic have accelerated the development of telemedicine, mobile medical apps, and virtual reality apps and have continued to introduce new possibilities across mental health care. Growing access to and acceptance of digital health technologies present opportunities to expand the scope of care and to close gaps in the management of MDD. Digital health technology is rapidly evolving the options for nonclinical support and clinical care for patients with MDD. Iterative efforts to validate and optimize such digital health technologies, including digital therapeutics and digital biomarkers, continue to improve access to and quality of personalized detection, treatment, and monitoring of MDD. The aim of this review is to highlight the existing gaps and challenges in depression management and discuss the current and future landscape of digital health technology as it applies to the challenges faced by patients with MDD and their healthcare providers.

A qualitative interview study of patients' attitudes towards and intention to use digital interventions for depressive disorders on prescription

“…Due to the non-availability of in-person services, self-management skills become more important for patients as users of digital mental health care ( 20 , 53 ). From patients' perspectives, our result showed that DTx could be a tool to improve coping with major depression for a period.…”

“…Participants perceive DTx a reliable source of information, but apart from that appraise them as less effective than face-to-face psychotherapy. Even though DTx are not perceived as a substitute, research shows comparable effects of digital interventions and face-to-face treatment ( 20 , 54 ), but reliable evaluations for digital mental health interventions are not comprehensive ( 20 , 55 ). According to the admission process, permanently listed DTx fulfilled higher evaluation standards ( 24 ) to examine effectiveness and contribute to evidence-based mental health care.…”

“…The number and variety of digital health services for mental disorders is constantly increasing over the last decade ( 18 ). Digital health services for mental health include health promotion, prevention, or treatment of some disorders, e.g., by providing behavioural information to encourage patients’ self-management ( 19 , 20 ). Digital interventions for mental health can be applied with professional guidance to assist and follow up the use, completely self-guided by patients or as blended approaches as an additional part of face-to-face treatments ( 13 , 16 ).…”

What digital health technology types are used in mental health prevention and intervention? Review of systematic reviews for systematization of technologies

“…CBT and mindfulness can be conducted by a chatbot in an app or by a therapist online. 15 , 28 , 33 , 34 Additionally, as digital health technology interventions are effective for eating disorders, 35 online and app-based dietary approaches may become more extensively used in the future. Furthermore, organizational efforts are important for mental health, 36 and interventions such as psychological safety (eg, crew resource management 37 ) may be offered via apps in the future.…”

Innova4Health: an integrated approach for prevention of recurrence and personalized treatment of Major Depressive Disorder

“…Digital biomarkers, collected through digital devices, offer objective and quantifiable physiological and behavioral data. They enable remote data collection, potentially reducing the burden of in-clinic visits and providing insights into clinically relevant changes (McIntyre et al, 2023 ). Wearable technologies and smartphone apps contribute to digital phenotyping, allowing for moment-by-moment assessment of individual characteristics in real-world environments.…”