CloudMD Reports Results of Evidence Based Study Proving iCBT as Highly Effective Treatment for Depression and Anxiety

Over 5,000 individuals with clinical levels of depression and comorbid anxiety who completed CloudMD’s Therapist Assisted iCBT program experienced reliable symptom improvement

CloudMD Software & Services Inc. a healthcare technology company revolutionizing the delivery of care, is excited to announce the positive results of a comprehensive, evidence-based study on the outcomes of therapist assisted internet-based cognitive behavioural therapy (“TAiCBT”).

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Since 2020, CloudMD’s leading, clinically based TAiCBT provider, MindBeacon, has successfully treated thousands of people with clinically severe levels of depression and co-morbid anxiety. The results of the study released have proved the effectiveness of TAiCBT treatment for depression and anxiety.
Depression is a leading cause of disability and absence for all Canadian employers and the leading cause worldwide, impacting 350 million people1. In Canada, around 11% of men as well as 16%2 of women will be impacted by the condition throughout their lifetime. Close to half of people who suffer with depression (46%) will also experience anxiety in their lifetime, often at the same time. Knowing this, MindBeacon recently completed a study to seek a) the effectiveness of its depression protocol for those experiencing symptoms of both depression and anxiety, and b) the relationship between moderating factors (e.g., client characteristics), mediating factors (e.g., patterns of client and therapist engagement) and symptom reduction.

Highlights:

• Conducted a comprehensive analysis of two years of data, representing 12,839 people who consented to treatment for symptoms of depression.
• Treated thousands of people with clinically severe levels of depression, and thousands of people with clinically severe co-morbid anxiety.
• 77% of clients start treatment with clinical level symptoms (a score of 10 or more on the PHQ9) of depression; 56% are suffering from clinical levels of both depression and anxiety symptoms (a score of 8 or more on the GAD7).
• On average, clients start treatment with a depression symptom score in the moderately severe range (16) and finish with a score in the moderate depression range (10).
• Initial symptoms, amount of treatment readings and frequency of engagement all contribute to symptom improvement.
• More than half of clients with clinically severe symptoms experience reliable symptom improvement.
• This compares very favourably with other forms of treatment and TAiCBT studies and experience in other jurisdictions.
• Clients with a range of engagement patterns can benefit from TAiCBT, clients who stretch out engagement over 4 or more weeks experience optimal results.
• This is also consistent with past research showing that increasing engagement increases the number of clients achieving reliable clinical change.

The study was based on a comprehensive analysis of two years of data from January 2020 – December 2021. Clinical levels for depression are defined as a score of 10 or more on the PHQ9. On average, clients started treatment with a depression symptom score in the moderately severe range (16) and finished with a score in the moderate depression range (10). A reduction of 6 points in PHQ9 is considered a reliable change. In summary, nearly half of clients experienced a reliable change in their depression symptoms by the end of treatment.

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“The rising incidence of mental health and increasing wait times is supporting the need for iCBT solutions,” said Karen Adams, President and Interim CEO of CloudMD. “Our data analysts are dedicated to measuring outcomes to ensure that we are able to offer the treatment options that will result in improvement and return to function. We offer a full spectrum of mental health support solutions with multiple modalities of care which we feel confident will provide better health outcomes. Furthermore, we have one of the largest data sets for clinically based TAiCBT outcome measurement and data integrity, which is essential to showcase our program’s effectiveness, along with having the right processes in place to capture the proof points, and provide important outcomes data to our customers,” she continued.
After studying the effectiveness of its TAiCBT, the Company found that more than half of clients who actively engaged with the programs for four weeks or more saw symptom improvement, even if they completed few readings. Initial symptoms, amount of treatment readings and frequency of engagement all contributed to symptom improvement in the end.

The effectiveness of the Company’s TAiCBT programs showcase the support the program can offer to human resources and operational leaders as they help prevent absenteeism and leave of absence while taking employees forward on their wellness journey. For carriers, the program can help reduce the duration of disability claims, prevent short-term disability, and reduce absences at work due to depression.

“It’s not surprising that persistent engagement with the program is beneficial for symptom reduction but it is interesting that stretching engagement out appears to be more important that completing a lot of material in a short period of time,” said Matt Balcarras, PhD, clinical research lead at MindBeacon. “TAiCBT is designed to allow more choice and flexibility around the pacing of engagement, and we are pleased to show that our clients are able to find the pacing that works best for them,” he added.

The TAiCBT platform, with its high degree of client/therapist interaction and personalization to adapt to their individual needs and preferences throughout their treatment journey, is uniquely designed to foster continued client engagement leading to better outcomes. As shown in this study, CloudMD’s TAiCBT has proven highly effective treatment for people with clinical levels (moderately severe and moderate) of depression and comorbid anxiety.
Furthermore, CloudMD’s time to treatment at <5 days is 5 times faster than the 25 days Canadians typically wait for community health, or months or more for specialized support (e.g., post-traumatic stress)3. Earlier intervention has also been consistently shown to lead to better outcomes.

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