An app category of mobile applications that usually present several digital tools.
Published in Chapter:
Mobile Mental Health for Depression Assistance: Research Directions, Obstacles, Advantages, and Disadvantages of Implementing mHealth
Jorge Magalhães Rodrigues (Center of BioSciences in Integrative Health, Portugal), Frédéric Oliveira (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal), Carolina Porto Ribeiro (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal), and Regina Camargo Santos (Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, University of Porto, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-8634-1.ch002
Abstract
Depression is a prevalent and severe medical illness that negatively affects how people feel, think, and act, with estimates pointing towards more than 300 million suffering from depression worldwide. Although effective treatments exist, about 80% of people in low and middle-income countries do not receive therapy. Therefore, technology has become a promising tool to assist in reducing disparities. This study aims to identify and map the available evidence on mobile health applied to depression and clarify key concepts. The authors analyzed clinical trials developed over the last five years. EBSCO and PubMed were searched, and a total of 14 conducted RCTs were selected and reviewed. Despite some limitations regarding dropout rates and several ethical and safety concerns, the mobile mental health future seems promising.