The effect of a scenario-based cognitive behavioral therapy mobile app on end-stage kidney disease patients on dialysis

It has been reported that a scenario-based cognitive behavioral therapy mobile app including Todac Todac was effective in improving depression in the general public. However, no study has been conducted on whether Todac Todac is effective in dialysis patients. Therefore, this study was intended to determine whether the use of this app was effective in improving depression in dialysis patients. Sixty-five end-stage kidney disease patients receiving dialysis at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital were randomly assigned to the Todac Todac app program (experimental group) or an E-moods daily mood chart app program (control group) for 3 weeks. The degree of depression was measured before and after using the app.After the end of the 3-week program, a small but significant improvement was observed in the Trait anxiety (p < 0.05) and Beck depression index (p < 0.05) in E-moods group and DAS-K scores (p < 0.05) in Todac Todac group. However, no differences were seen in any parameters between the two groups. In addition, Todac Todac was not statistically more effective than the control intervention in the subgroup analysis. The Todac Todac, a scenario-based cognitive behavioral therapy mobile app, seemed to have a limited effect on improving depression in dialysis patients. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new tools to improve depression in dialysis patients.