Reid, S. C., Kauer, S. D., Hearps, S. J. C, et al. (2013). A mobile phone application for the assessment and management of youth mental health problems in primary care: Health service outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of mobiletype. BMC Family Practice, 14, 84.
The mobiletype program is a mobile phone mental health assessment and management application which monitors mood, stress and everyday activities, then transmits this information to general practitioners (GPs) via a secure website in summary format for medical review. The authors conducted a randomized controlled trial in primary care with patients aged 14 to 24 years with mental health concerns. Participants were randomly assigned to either the intervention group (where mood, stress and daily activities were monitored) or the attention-comparison group (where only daily activities were monitored). Of 114 participants included in analyses, t-tests indicated that the intervention program increased understanding of patient mental health, assisted in decisions about medication/referral and helped in diagnosis when compared to the attention-comparison program. This study suggests that mobiletype has much to offer GPs in the often difficult and time-consuming task of assessment and management of youth mental health problems in primary care.