NCT02484794

Augmenting Specialty Eating Disorder Clinical Treatment With a Smartphone Application

Efficacy and Acceptability of Augmenting Specialty Eating Disorder Clinical Treatment With a Smartphone Application: A Pilot RCT

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 91 (actual)
• Sponsor: Nova Scotia Health Authority · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the most empirically supported and researched treatment for eating disorders. A central component of CBT for eating disorders is self-monitoring which involves patients keeping a paper food record of their meals and associated thoughts, feelings, and behaviours and receiving feedback from a clinician to help target dysfunctional cognitions and behaviours. Given the issues associated with paper journals such as non-compliance, feelings of shame when used in public, and delayed feedback, researchers have developed an evidence-based smartphone application (Recovery Record) for eating disorder self-monitoring that links patients with their clinicians and offers additional features designed to enhance treatment. The current pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) seeks to evaluate this smartphone application in a clinical setting alongside standard eating disorder outpatient treatment. Patients will be recruited from the Nova Scotia Health Authority Eating Disorder Outpatient Program and randomised to receive either standard treatment or standard treatment with the app (instead of the paper food record). The efficacy and acceptability of both treatments will be assessed and compared. Coping skill use and self-efficacy among patients will also be examined given the skill building focus of treatment and in-app capabilities to deliver real-time coping skill suggestions to patients. This pilot study will be the first to examine the efficacy and acceptability of a smartphone application in eating disorder clinical treatment and if successful, should provide preliminary support for the use of smartphone applications over traditional paper food journals as a self-monitoring tool for augmenting specialty eating disorder clinical treatment.

Conditions

• Eating Disorders

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Standard Outpatient Treatment	Standard treatment offered by the Nova Scotia Health Authority Eating Disorder Outpatient Program varies in intensity but involves therapy groups (e.g., goal setting and skill building groups), individual contact, and meal experiences. Minimal participation in the program consists of a weekly nutritional counselling group (Nutri-Logical) and one supervised meal a week. In the nutritional counselling group, patients keep a food journal (self-monitor), set eating goals, receive feedback from a psychologist and dietitian, and share experiences with the group.
BEHAVIORAL	Smartphone App	The smartphone app is a mobile eating disorder self-monitoring tool that incorporates discrete reminders, positive feedback, social support, summative feedback, coping skill suggestions, and linking patients with their treating clinicians (psychologist and dietician). The app is CBT-based and was designed as an alternative to paper food records for use in clinical treatment.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-09-01
• Primary completion: 2019-05-31
• Completion: 2019-05-31
• First posted: 2015-06-30
• Last updated: 2020-01-27

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada