The potential of digitalized follow-up care in depression treated with pharmacotherapy: A scoping review
Matilda Hamlin, Constanze Wartenberg, Lilas Ali, Harald Aiff, Linda Wesén, Petteri Sjögren, Therese Svanberg, Elisabet Wentz, Steinn SteingrimssonBackground
Continuous follow-up is recommended adjacent to changes in pharmacological antidepressant treatment. Collecting patient data in real-time, processed through an automated digitalized protocol to highlight information requiring staff attention, may be an opportunity to optimize the use of healthcare resources and improve patient care.
Objective
To provide an overview of existing literature on digital approaches with potential applications in digitalized follow-up care of depression managed with pharmacotherapy.
Methods
A scoping review according to Arksey and O’Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) was conducted. After a literature search for papers published between 2010 and 2024, the Rayyan tool was used to screen and identify eligible studies according to PCC (Population, Concept, Context).
Results
Out of 6,186 studies identified in the literature search, 34 articles met inclusion criteria. A majority of the articles (23/34) were published after 2020, roughly a fourth focused on passively collected data (8/34) and a large heterogeneity of medication was found.
Conclusion
The potential of digitalized follow-up for antidepressant treatment has been explored in the literature, however, there is a lack of homogeneity in terminology and a lack of empirical studies testing efficacy that limit the potential to implement digitalized follow-up in the near future.