Trial Review

Registering a new trial?

To achieve prospective registration, we recommend submitting your trial for registration at the same time as ethics submission.

The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been endorsed by the ANZCTR. Before participating in a study, talk to your health care provider and refer to this information for consumers
Trial registered on ANZCTR


Registration number
ACTRN12620000178943
Ethics application status
Approved
Date submitted
3/02/2020
Date registered
17/02/2020
Date last updated
5/08/2021
Date data sharing statement initially provided
17/02/2020
Type of registration
Prospectively registered

Titles & IDs
Public title
Randomised controlled trial of Anchored, an app-based intervention to support the mental health of Australian workers.
Scientific title
Randomised controlled trial of Anchored, an app-based intervention to support the mental health of Australian workers.
Secondary ID [1] 299602 0
Nil known.
Universal Trial Number (UTN)
Trial acronym
Linked study record
ACTRN12619000761167 represents a pilot trial of this same app.

Health condition
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied:
Depression 314892 0
Anxiety 314893 0
Emotional wellbeing 314894 0
Stress 314897 0
Condition category
Condition code
Mental Health 313240 313240 0 0
Anxiety
Mental Health 313241 313241 0 0
Depression
Public Health 313242 313242 0 0
Health promotion/education
Public Health 314323 314323 0 0
Other public health

Intervention/exposure
Study type
Interventional
Description of intervention(s) / exposure
'Anchored' is a smartphone application-based intervention that includes therapeutic content centred on behavioural activation (BA), mindfulness, and cognitive behavioural tasks. It was adapted from HeadGear, an existing smartphone application designed for individuals working in male-dominated industries. Anchored is more broadly aimed at all working adults, and has a more gender-neutral look and feel, achieved through use of colour scheme, imagery, font/typography, inclusion of male and female ‘characters’, and delivery of in-app content by both male and female presenters. The Anchored app is designed for self-directed use by an individual on a smartphone device. It features interactive content, delivered by on-screen text, audio, static and interactive image displays and videos. The app can be accessed by the participant on their smartphone at a time and location of their choosing. This app/intervention has been used previously in a pilot study: Pilot-testing of a mobile phone application to support the mental health of Australian workers (ACTRN12619000761167).

The main therapeutic component of the Anchored app takes the form of a 30 day intervention in which users complete one ‘challenge’ daily (5- 10 minutes per day). These 'challenges' feature a variety of evidence-based therapeutic techniques delivered using a range of formats including: psychoeducational videos (on coping skills and resilience, mindfulness, and behavioural activation); mindfulness exercises; value-driven activity planning, goal-setting and review; and coping skill development (problem solving, sleep, grounding, alcohol use, assertiveness, and training in adaptive forms of coping). Users can also complete an optional risk calculator that assesses risk for future common mental disorders and provides participants with personalised feedback regarding this risk. The risk calculator uses an algorithm based on 20 inventory questions developed from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), and has been validated in the Australian adult population. Other components of the Anchored app include a tracker for monitoring mood, physical activity and sleep, a toolbox of skills (which is gradually filled as the intervention is completed), and support service helplines.

Adherence measures include challenge completion, time spent in challenges, toolbox completion, session times.
Intervention code [1] 315857 0
Prevention
Intervention code [2] 316090 0
Behaviour
Comparator / control treatment
Participants allocated to the attention control condition will be provided with access to an mobile-enabled online health and psychoeducation program consisting of four modules: 1) stress; 2) anxiety and depression; 3) lifestyle and physical health; and 4) occupational health and safety. The online program will seek to replicate participant time spent using the Anchored app; however, without the therapeutic content.
Control group
Active

Outcomes
Primary outcome [1] 321735 0
Depression incidence (onset) as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) diagnostic algorithm.
Timepoint [1] 321735 0
Incidence data will be aggregated across follow-up timepoints (30 days, 3 months and 6 months).
Secondary outcome [1] 376037 0
Depressive symptom change as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).
Timepoint [1] 376037 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [2] 376038 0
Work-related stress symptom change as measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS).
Timepoint [2] 376038 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [3] 376039 0
Anxiety symptom change as measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) 7-item scale.
Timepoint [3] 376039 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [4] 376040 0
Change in wellbeing as measured by the World Health Organisation (Five) Well-being Index (WHO-5).
Timepoint [4] 376040 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [5] 376042 0
Change in work presenteeism as measured by a single item from the Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), asking about job performance during the past 4 weeks
Timepoint [5] 376042 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [6] 376043 0
Depression incidence (onset) as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) diagnostic algorithm.
Timepoint [6] 376043 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [7] 376044 0
Change in resilience as measured using six items from the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS).
Timepoint [7] 376044 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [8] 376045 0
Change in Workplace burnout as measured by the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (7 items).
Timepoint [8] 376045 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [9] 376046 0
Application engagement/feedback as measured using questions adapted from the Mobile Application Rating Scale; including questions measuring likelihood to recommend the app to others, overall rating, appropriateness to the target audience, as well as questions assessing how easy and interesting the app was to use.
Timepoint [9] 376046 0
Data will be collected 30 days after baseline.
Secondary outcome [10] 376047 0
Objective application engagement as measured through in-app data collection, including: (1) number of times App opened; (2) number of "challenges" completed; (3) number of “toolbox” items accessed; and, (4) total time spent in App.
Timepoint [10] 376047 0
Data will be collected 30 days after baseline.
Secondary outcome [11] 376878 0
Change in General health outcomes (functioning, quality of life) as measured by the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL-4D).
Timepoint [11] 376878 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [12] 379336 0
Change in Alcohol use measured by the AUDIT-C
Timepoint [12] 379336 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [13] 379337 0
Change in exercise as measured by single item (how often do you participate in moderate or intensive physical activity for at least 30 minutes? )
Timepoint [13] 379337 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [14] 379842 0
Change in Effective work days using the Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), A composite measure for effective work days will be constructed by multiplying days present at work (absenteeism) by absolute work productivity score (presenteeism) as calculated by the HPQ, replicating previous work in the area (Wang et al. 2007).
Timepoint [14] 379842 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.
Secondary outcome [15] 379843 0
Change in work absenteeism as measured by a single item from the Health and Work Performance Questionnaire (HPQ), pertaining to past month sickness absence (days absent, days absent for mental health reasons)
Timepoint [15] 379843 0
Data will be collected at baseline, and 30 days, 3 months and 6 months after baseline.

Eligibility
Key inclusion criteria
To be included in the study participants must:
- Be over 18 years of age
- Be currently employed either on a casual basis, part time, or full time
- Have satisfactory English comprehension
- Be a current Australian resident
- Respond >=3 ("to some extent") to Single-Item Stress Question (SISQ) at screening
- Not meet diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) using the PHQ-9 algorithm
Minimum age
18 Years
Maximum age
No limit
Sex
Both males and females
Can healthy volunteers participate?
Yes
Key exclusion criteria
- No smartphone ownership
- Under 18 years of age
- Inability to understand English
- Respond <3 on Single Item Stress Question (SISQ) at screening
- Meet diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder using PHQ-9 algorithm at screening

Study design
Purpose of the study
Prevention
Allocation to intervention
Randomised controlled trial
Procedure for enrolling a subject and allocating the treatment (allocation concealment procedures)
Allocation will be concealed as randomisation of participants into intervention or control condition will occur immediately following completion of the baseline assessment using automated procedures integrated into the trial management software.
Methods used to generate the sequence in which subjects will be randomised (sequence generation)
Computer-generated block randomisation (in blocks of four).
Masking / blinding
Open (masking not used)
Who is / are masked / blinded?



Intervention assignment
Parallel
Other design features
Phase
Not Applicable
Type of endpoint/s
Efficacy
Statistical methods / analysis
Data coding and analysis will be carried out by the authors using available software packages including STATA version 12.0 (StataCorp, 2011) and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0. Data on screening, refusals, and dropout will be coded and reported as per CONSORT guidelines. Primary analyses will be undertaken on an intention-to-treat (ITT) basis, including data for all participants who were randomised and completed the initial baseline assessment, irrespective of their level of adherence to the intervention or control condition. Categorical and continuous measures of outcome will be examined using mixed or marginal longitudinal models (i.e., mixed model repeated measures, generalised estimating equation modelling) as appropriate. These approaches enable the inclusion of participants with missing data, without using inferior techniques such as last observation carried forward, when data is missing at random. Transformations, including dichotomisation or other categorisation, will be undertaken as necessary to meet distributional assumptions and to accommodate outlying observations. The potential effects of a number of covariates and confounders will be modelled in the major analyses. A number of a priori-defined stratified analyses will be conducted to examine the dose-response effect of the intervention.

Sample Size:
As a population based prevention intervention, the size of the effect of the intervention is anticipated to be relatively small. Meta-analysis of previous trials of workplace prevention of depression showed an odds ratio of 2.04 (P=0.005, 95%CI:1.24–3.35) aggregated over 3-month follow-up period. Power calculations were carried out using STATA-12, which can undertake power calculations for models proposed to use in this study using simulation techniques. Power was set at 80%, alpha at 0.05, with a two-sided hypothesis test and an assumption of correlation at .50 between pre- and post- intervention scores. This estimated a sample size of 1,028 is required to detect a proportional difference in incidence rates similar to that reported in previous research. Finally, using a conservative attrition rate of 50%, an initial total sample of 2,056 will need to be recruited and randomised.

Publication plan:
Papers will be produced separately for short-term and long-term outcomes. Primary and specific secondary outcomes will similarly be divided across manuscripts.

Recruitment
Recruitment status
Completed
Date of first participant enrolment
Anticipated
28/02/2020
Actual
25/03/2020
Date of last participant enrolment
Anticipated
30/04/2020
Actual
26/04/2020
Date of last data collection
Anticipated
30/11/2020
Actual
25/10/2020
Sample size
Target
2056
Accrual to date
Final
2115
Recruitment in Australia
Recruitment state(s)
ACT,NSW,NT,QLD,SA,TAS,WA,VIC

Funding & Sponsors
Funding source category [1] 304080 0
Government body
Name [1] 304080 0
Australian Government Department of Health
Country [1] 304080 0
Australia
Primary sponsor type
University
Name
UNSW Australia
Address
UNSW Australia, Kensington NSW 2052
Country
Australia
Secondary sponsor category [1] 304287 0
Other
Name [1] 304287 0
Black Dog Institute
Address [1] 304287 0
Hospital Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Country [1] 304287 0
Australia

Ethics approval
Ethics application status
Approved
Ethics committee name [1] 304571 0
University of New South Wales Human Research Ethics Committee
Ethics committee address [1] 304571 0
The University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 2052
Ethics committee country [1] 304571 0
Australia
Date submitted for ethics approval [1] 304571 0
20/12/2019
Approval date [1] 304571 0
21/01/2020
Ethics approval number [1] 304571 0
HC190914

Summary
Brief summary
This application is for the purpose of conducting a randomised controlled trial (RCT) of a smartphone-based intervention (Anchored) aimed at preventing depression and promoting mental health and wellbeing within Australian workers. The app has previously undergone pilot testing for feasibility, usability and acceptability.
Participants will be randomised to one of two conditions: (1) the Anchored app (a CBT, mindfulness, and behavioral activation-based smartphone app) and (2) a psycho-educational online resource. Post-intervention assessment will occur 30 days after baseline, and follow-up assessment will occur 3 and 6 months after baseline. All assessment will be completed online.
Key outcomes include: depression caseness, depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, stress, wellbeing, resilience, function, burnout, work productivity, and lifestyle elements.
Trial website
https://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/research/key-research-areas/workplace-mental-health/anchored
Trial related presentations / publications
Public notes

Contacts
Principal investigator
Name 97426 0
Dr Mark Deady
Address 97426 0
Black Dog Institute
Hospital Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Country 97426 0
Australia
Phone 97426 0
+612 9382 8507
Fax 97426 0
Email 97426 0
[email protected]
Contact person for public queries
Name 97427 0
Mark Deady
Address 97427 0
Black Dog Institute
Hospital Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Country 97427 0
Australia
Phone 97427 0
+612 9382 8507
Fax 97427 0
Email 97427 0
[email protected]
Contact person for scientific queries
Name 97428 0
Mark Deady
Address 97428 0
Black Dog Institute
Hospital Rd, Randwick NSW 2031
Country 97428 0
Australia
Phone 97428 0
+612 9382 8507
Fax 97428 0
Email 97428 0
[email protected]

Data sharing statement
Will individual participant data (IPD) for this trial be available (including data dictionaries)?
No
No/undecided IPD sharing reason/comment
All data will be de-identified and will only be used for the purposes of the trial. Results of statistical analyses will be made available during publication; however, individual participant data will not be made publicly available.


What supporting documents are/will be available?

Doc. No.TypeCitationLinkEmailOther DetailsAttachment
6546Ethical approval https://research.unsw.edu.au/recs/human-research-ethics-home[email protected] 378592-(Uploaded-22-01-2020-12-59-52)-Study-related document.Pdf



Results publications and other study-related documents

Documents added manually
No documents have been uploaded by study researchers.

Documents added automatically
SourceTitleYear of PublicationDOI
EmbaseSelective Prevention of Depression in Workers Using a Smartphone App: Randomized Controlled Trial.2023https://dx.doi.org/10.2196/45963
N.B. These documents automatically identified may not have been verified by the study sponsor.