Trial reportPLoS medicine2024
Effects of a self-guided digital mental health self-help intervention for Syrian refugees in Egypt: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in PLoS medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Implementation outcomes of the WHO psychosocial intervention problem management plus in humanitarian settings: a systematic review.Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences · 2026Pooled it
- A self-guided digital mental health intervention for Syrian refugees in Germany and Sweden: effects from two pragmatic randomized controlled trials.BMC psychiatry · 2026Trial
- From research to real-life implementation: an evaluation of the scale up of a guided digital mental health intervention in Lebanon: Step-by-Step.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Self-care strategies among Arabic-speaking refugees and the Australian Mental Health Stepped Care Model: a Delphi consensus study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Evidence based mental health interventions for children in fragile and conflict affected settings: expanding reach and system strengthening.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2026Article
- Culturally Adapted Mental Health Education Programs for Migrant Populations: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2026Article
- Mental health interventions for refugees in Africa: a scoping review of implementation and motivations.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2025Article
- Psychosocial support for Arabic-speaking refugees residing in Switzerland (Sui app): A mixed-methods randomised controlled trial.Journal of migration and health · 2025Review
- A guide to selecting psychological interventions that can be delivered by people who are not mental health specialists in low-resource settings.PLOS global public health · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundDigital mental health interventions for smartphones, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) Step-by-Step (SbS) program, are potentially scalable solutions to improve access to mental health and psychosocial support in refugee populations. Our study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of SbS as self-guided intervention with optional message-based contact-on-demand (COD) support on reducing psychological distress, functional impairment, symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and self-identified problems in a sample of Syrian refugees residing in Egypt. METHODS AND
findingsWe conducted a 2-arm pragmatic randomized controlled trial. A total of 538 Syrians residing in Egypt with elevated levels of psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; K10 > 15) and reduced psychosocial functioning (WHODAS 2.0 > 16) were randomized into SbS + CAU (N = 266) or CAU only (N = 272). Primary outcomes were psychological distress (Hopkins Symptom Checklist 25) and impaired functioning (WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0) at 3-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes were symptoms of PTSD (PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 short form, PCL-5 short) and self-identified problems (Psychological Outcomes Profiles Scale, PSYCHLOPS). Intention-to-treat (ITT) analyses showed significant but small effects of condition on psychological distress (mean difference: -0.15; 95% CI: -0.28, -0.02; p = .02) and functioning (mean difference: -2.04; 95% CI: -3.87, -0.22; p = .02) at 3-month follow-up. There were no significant differences between groups on symptoms of PTSD and self-identified problems. Remission rates did not differ between conditions on any of the outcomes. COD was used by 9.4% of participants for a median of 1 contact per person. The main limitations are high intervention dropout and low utilization of COD support.
conclusionsThe trial provides a real-world implementation case, showing small positive effects of a digital, potentially scalable and self-guided mental health intervention for Syrian refugees in Egypt in reducing psychological distress and improving overall functioning. Further user-centered adaptations are required to improve adherence and effectiveness while maintaining scalability.
trial registrationGerman Register for Clinical Studies DRKS00023505.
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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.