Effectiveness of a Self-guided Mobile Application in Improving Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Symptoms

NCT06202677 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: NUS-IRB-2023-444
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 225
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a significant mental health problem worldwide. OCD typically begins in young adulthood, and without adequate intervention, often takes a chronic course. Individuals with OCD may suffer impaired relationships, and ability to engage in leisure activities, study or work. Thus, prevention efforts are crucial to target OCD symptoms before they worsen. The goal of this randomized-controlled trial (RCT) is to evaluate the effectiveness of a self-guided OCD program on a mobile phone application in young adults with subclinical OCD symptoms. Hypothesis 1a: The intervention group will report significantly lower OCD symptoms (primary measure) at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up compared to the control group. Hypothesis 1b. The intervention group will report significantly lower depression, anxiety and stress symptoms (secondary measure) at post-intervention and 1-month follow-up compared to the control group. Hypothesis 2. Perfectionism will moderate the expected relationship between the OCD intervention and the reduction of scores on both primary and secondary measures, i.e. individuals with lower levels of perfectionism will benefit more from the OCD intervention than those with higher levels of perfectionism.

Conditions

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change of obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms

  The Obsessive Compulsive Inventory - Revised (OCI-R; Foa et al., 2002) is used. The OCI-R is an 18-item self-report questionnaire which assesses OCD symptoms across 6 subscales: washing, checking, neutralising, obsessing, ordering, and hoarding. Each item is rated on a 5-point Likert scale with scores ranging from Not at all (0) to Extremely (4). The total score (ranging from 0-72) is the sum of all the items.

  Baseline, 8 days (completion of intervention), 4 weeks (follow-up)

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Change of depression, anxiety and stress symptoms

  Baseline, 8 days (completion of intervention), 4 weeks (follow-up)

Other Outcomes (2)

• Perfectionism

  Baseline

• Engagement with the mobile application

  8 days (completion of intervention)

Study Arms (2)

Experimental: Intervention group: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Program

EXPERIMENTAL

Participants will complete an 8-day self-guided programme on obsessive compulsive disorder delivered via a mobile phone application with daily exercises guided by cognitive-behavioural and exposure and response prevention principles.

Device: Self-guided program on obsessive compulsive disorder

Control group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants will complete an 8-day self-guided programme on cooperation delivered via a mobile phone application with daily exercises that differ from the intervention group in terms of content but are comparable in terms of duration.

Device: Self-guided program on cooperation

Interventions

Self-guided program on obsessive compulsive disorder DEVICE

This is an 8-day program that provides psychoeducational on what obsessions and compulsions are, and how to identify them. Subsequently, through a series of content learning and daily exercises that increase in difficulty, participants are guided to conduct exposure exercises while tolerating distress and refraining from compulsions. Participants are also guided to set goals and type down the specific content of their intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviours to keep track of their progress. Each session of the program is estimated to be approximately 5 minutes.

Experimental: Intervention group: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Program

Self-guided program on cooperation DEVICE

This 8-day program on cooperation aims to improve participants' collaborative skills and interpersonal wellness through a series of content learning and practice exercises. The time and duration of this program is matched to the obsessive compulsive disorder program to ensure that participants spend a similar amount of time and effort across both the intervention and active control conditions.

Control group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 30 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18-30 mild, subclinical OCD (OCI-R score of 0 to 20) Good command of the English language Owns a mobile phone for downloading the mobile application for use in the study's intervention Singaporean or Permanent Resident of Singapore

You may not qualify if:

• None

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National University of Singapore: lead
• Intellect Pte. Ltd.: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

National University of Singapore

Singapore, Singapore

Location

Related Publications (5)

• Bakker D, Rickard N. Engagement in mobile phone app for self-monitoring of emotional wellbeing predicts changes in mental health: MoodPrism. J Affect Disord. 2018 Feb;227:432-442. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2017.11.016. Epub 2017 Nov 9.

  PMID: 29154165 BACKGROUND

• Lovibond PF, Lovibond SH. The structure of negative emotional states: comparison of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) with the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. Behav Res Ther. 1995 Mar;33(3):335-43. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(94)00075-u.

  PMID: 7726811 BACKGROUND

• Foa EB, Huppert JD, Leiberg S, Langner R, Kichic R, Hajcak G, Salkovskis PM. The Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory: development and validation of a short version. Psychol Assess. 2002 Dec;14(4):485-96.

  PMID: 12501574 BACKGROUND

• Frost, R. O., Marten, P., Lahart, C., & Rosenblate, R. The dimensions of perfectionism. Cognitive Therapy and Research. 1990; 14(5): 449-468.

  BACKGROUND

• Lee Yoon Li M, Lee Si Min S, Sundermann O. Efficacy of the mHealth App Intellect in Improving Subclinical Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in University Students: Randomized Controlled Trial With a 4-Week Follow-Up. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2024 Dec 16;12:e63316. doi: 10.2196/63316.

  PMID: 39680884 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Anxiety Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Stephanie Lee, Ph.D

  National University of Singapore

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: FACTORIAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Adjunct Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 1, 2024
• First Posted: January 11, 2024
• Study Start: January 1, 2024
• Primary Completion: March 1, 2024
• Study Completion: July 7, 2024
• Last Updated: July 1, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-06

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

SG (1)