Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33500282›Full record

Trial reportBMJ open2021

Do sociodemographic variables moderate effects of an internet intervention for mild to moderate depressive symptoms? An exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial (EVIDENT) including 1013 participants.

Sandra Nolte, Ljoudmila Busija, Thomas Berger, Björn Meyer, Steffen Moritz, Matthias Rose, Johanna Schröder, Christina Späth-Nellissen, Jan Philipp Klein

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01636752 (Effectiveness of Internet-based Depression Treatment), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT01636752 nacompletednot on this map

Effectiveness of Internet-based Depression Treatment

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of LuebeckRan2012 to 2017Enrolled1,013ConditionsMild to Moderate Depressive SymptomsArmsDeprexis
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. E-Mental Health Interventions in Inpatient Care: Scoping Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 6 countries.

Sandra NolteMedical Department, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany sandra.nolte@charite.de.ORCID 0000-0001-6185-9423
Ljoudmila BusijaResearch Methodology Division, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Thomas BergerDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-2432-7791
Björn MeyerResearch Department, GAIA AG, Hamburg, Germany.
Steffen MoritzDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Matthias RoseMedical Department, Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
Johanna SchröderDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Christina Späth-NellissenDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Lübeck University, Lübeck, Germany.
Jan Philipp KleinDepartment of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Lübeck University, Lübeck, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-9882-2261
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · DEUniversität Hamburg · DEUniversity of Lübeck · DEAustralian Regenerative Medicine Institute · AUCity, University of London · GBUniversity of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo explore the moderating effects of sociodemographic variables on treatment benefits received from participating in an internet intervention for depression.

designRandomised, assessor-blind, controlled trial.

settingOnline intervention, with participant recruitment using multiple settings, including inpatient and outpatient medical and psychological clinics, depression online forums, health insurance companies and the media (eg, newspaper, radio).

participantsThe EVIDENT trial included 1013 participants with mild to moderate depressive symptoms.

interventionsThe intervention group subjects (n=509) received an online intervention (Deprexis) in addition to care as usual (CAU), while 504 participants received CAU alone.

methodsTo explore subgroup differences, moderating effects were investigated using linear regression models based on intention-to-treat analyses. Moderating effects included sex, age, educational attainment, employment status, relationship status and lifetime frequency of episodes. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary endpoint was change in self-rated depression severity measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), comparing baseline versus 12-week post-test assessment. Secondary outcome measures were the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptoms each at 12 weeks and at 6 and 12 months, and PHQ-9 at 6 and 12 months, respectively. In this article, we focus on the primary outcome measure only.

resultsBetween-group differences were observed in post-test scores, indicating the effectiveness of Deprexis. While the effects of the intervention could be demonstrated across all subgroups, some showed larger between-group differences than others. However, after exploring the moderating effects based on linear regression models, none of the selected variables was found to be moderating treatment outcomes.

conclusionsOur findings suggest that Deprexis is equally beneficial to a wide range of people; that is, participant characteristics were not associated with treatment benefits. Therefore, participant recruitment into web-based psychotherapeutic interventions should be broad, while special attention may be paid to those currently under-represented in these interventions. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT01636752.

Indexed as

Cognitive Behavioral TherapyInternet-Based InterventionDepressionHumansInternetTreatment Outcomeclinical trialsdepression & mood disordersmental healthstatistics & research methods

Identifiers

PMID33500282
PMCPMC7839881
OpenAlexW3125393519

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.