MedLink: A mobile intervention to improve medication adherence and processes of care for treatment of depression in general medicine

BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder is a common psychological problem affecting up to 20% of adults in their lifetime. The majority of people treated for depression receive antidepressant medication through their primary care physician. This commonly results in low rates of recovery. Failure points in the process of care contributing to poor outcomes include patient non-adherence to medications, failure of physicians to optimize dose and absence of communication between patients and physicians. OBJECTIVE: This pilot study evaluated the feasibility of a systemic digital intervention (MedLink) designed to address failure points and improve treatment of depression in primary care among patients during the first eight weeks of initiating a new course of antidepressant therapy. METHODS: Participants were provided with the MedLink mobile app that provided dose reminders, information and surveys of symptoms and side effects. A cellularly enabled pillbox monitored antidepressant medication adherence. Reports were provided to physicians and participants to prompt changes in medication regimen. Study outcomes were assessed via self-report and interview measures at baseline, week 4 and week 8. RESULTS: Medication adherence detected by the MedLink system was 82%. Participants demonstrated significant decreases in depressive symptoms on the patient health questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) (p = 0.0005) and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (p = 0.0008) over the eight-week trial. Usability was generally rated favorably. CONCLUSIONS: The MedLink system demonstrated promise as an intervention to address failure points in the primary care treatment of major depressive disorder. Current findings support the further development of MedLink through a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of improving processes of care, patient adherence and symptoms of depression.