Usefulness of Supportive Text Messages in the Treatment of Depressed Alcoholics
Depression, Alcohol Use Disorder
About this trial
This is an interventional treatment trial for Depression focused on measuring depression, alcohol dependency syndrome, dual diagnosis, SMS text messages
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria:
- All patients fulfilling the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual fourth edition(DSM IV) criteria for alcohol dependence and are co-morbid for a unipolar depression and who complete the in-patient dual diagnosis treatment programme.
- Patients must have an Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of at least 25
- All patients should have a mobile phone, be familiar with SMS text messaging technology and be willing to take part in the study.
Exclusion Criteria:
- Patients who do not consent to take part in the study.
- Patients who are blind, not able to read, do not have a mobile phone or are unable to use the mobile SMS technology.
- Patients who suffer from dipolar affective disorder.
- Patients with a history of psychosis or current diagnosis of psychotic disorder
- Poly-substances dependence or abuse but not misuse.
- Patients who would be unavailable for follow-up during the study period
Sites / Locations
- St Patrick's University Hospital
Arms of the Study
Arm 1
Arm 2
Experimental
No Intervention
Supportive SMS messages
No supportive SMS text message
Patients in the intervention group would receive twice daily supportive SMS text messages for 3 months from the treating team which would encourage/motivate them to refrain from drinking alcohol and comply with their medication. They would also receive a fortnightly phone call from an unblinded member of the research/treating team which would only serve the purpose of confirming that they still uses the mobile phone and receive the text messages.
Patients in the non-intervention group would also receive text messages once every fortnight thanking them for participating in the study and a monthly phone call which would only serve the purpose of confirming that they still uses the mobile phone and receive the text messages.