Reviewgreen2023

Digital health applications in the area of mental health

Stefanie Schreiter · Lea Mascarell-Maricic · Orestis Rakitzis · Constantin Volkmann · Jakob André Kaminski · Martin A. Daniels

22 citations0/0 files storedDeutsches Ärzteblatt international

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Digital Mental Health Interventions Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation Mobile Health and mHealth Applications

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The introduction of digital health applications (DiGA) is a fundamental innovation in Germany. In the field of mental health, numerous applications are already available whose efficacy has been tested in clinical trials. We investigated whether, and to what extent, the use of DiGA can be recommended on the basis of the available evidence. METHODS: In this scoping review, we summarize the evidence supporting the use of DiGA in the mental health field through an examination of relevant publications that were retrieved by a systematic literature search. We provide an annotated tabular listing and discuss the current advantages of, and obstacles to, the care of mentally ill patients with the aid of DiGA. RESULTS: We identified 17 DiGA for use in depression, anxiety disorders, addiction disorders, sleep disorders, stress/burnout, vaginismus, and chronic pain. These DiGA have been evaluated to date in 3 meta-analyses, 39 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and two single-armed intervention trials. 23 of the 36 published trials were carried out with the direct participation of the manufacturers. 29 of the 39 RCTs were not blinded or contained no information regarding blinding. Active controls were used in 6 of the 39 RCTs. The reported effect sizes, with the exclusion of pre-post analyses, ranged from 0.16 to 1.79. CONCLUSION: Most of the published studies display a high risk of bias, both because of the manufacturers' participation and because of methodological deficiencies. DiGA are an increasingly important therapeutic modality in psychiatry. The available evidence indicates that treatment effects are indeed present, but prospective comparisons with established treatments are still entirely lacking.

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References

2018PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR): Checklist and Explanation 2017Internet-based vs. face-to-face cognitive behavior therapy for psychiatric and somatic disorders: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis 2020Efficacy of digital cognitive behavioural therapy for insomnia: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials 2011Internet-Based Treatment of Depression: A Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing Guided with Unguided Self-Help 2009Effectiveness of a Novel Integrative Online Treatment for Depression (Deprexis): Randomized Controlled Trial 2016Web-Based and Mobile Stress Management Intervention for Employees: A Randomized Controlled Trial 2014Effects of an Internet intervention (Deprexis) on severe depression symptoms: Randomized controlled trial 2018Reviewing the data security and privacy policies of mobile apps for depression

Cited by

2025Digital Health Applications (DiGA) for Treating Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Protocol for a Systematic Health App Review and Systematic Review of Published Evidence 2025Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen für depressive Störung in Deutschland 2025Wie lassen sich Hürden bei der Versorgung mit digitalen Gesundheitsanwendungen (DiGA) überwinden? Eine Betrachtung des Patientenpfads bei unipolarer Depression

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