A mobile phone and web-based intervention for improving mental well-being in young people with type 1 diabetes: design of a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Young people with type 1 diabetes experience elevated levels of emotional distress that impact negatively on their diabetes self-care, quality of life, and disease-related morbidity and mortality. While the need is great and clinically significant, a range of structural (eg, service availability), psychological (eg, perceived stigma), and practical (eg, time and lifestyle) barriers mean that a majority of young people do not access the support they need to manage the emotional and behavioral challenges of type 1 diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to examine the effectiveness of a fully-automated cognitive behavior therapy-based mobile phone and Web-based psychotherapeutic intervention (myCompass) for reducing mental health symptoms and diabetes-related distress, and improving positive well-being in this vulnerable patient group.

METHODS: A two-arm randomized controlled trial will be conducted. Young people with type 1 diabetes and at least mild psychological distress will be recruited via outpatient diabetes centers at three tertiary hospitals in Sydney, Australia, and referred for screening to a study-specific website. Data will be collected entirely online. Participants randomized to the intervention group will use the myCompass intervention for 7 weeks, while at the same time a control group will use an active placebo program matched to the intervention on duration, mode of delivery, and interactivity.

RESULTS: The primary outcome will be mental well-being (ie, depression, anxiety, diabetes-related distress, and positive well-being), for which data will be collected at baseline, post-intervention, and after 3 months follow-up. Secondary outcomes will be functional (work and social functioning and diabetes self-care), biochemical measures (HbA1c), and mental health self-efficacy. We aim to recruit 280 people into the study that will be conducted entirely online. Group differences will be analyzed on an intention-to-treat basis using mixed models repeated measures.

CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesize that scores on the outcome measures will improve significantly for young people who use the mobile phone and Web-based intervention compared to the control group. myCompass is a public health intervention that is broadly available and free to use. If effective, the program has the capacity to provide convenient and accessible evidenced-based care to the large group of young people with type 1 diabetes who do not currently access the psychosocial support they need.

TRIAL REGISTRATION: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12614000974606; https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=366607 (Archived by WebCite at https://www.webcitation.org/6YGdeT0Dk).