The Mood Disorders Centre and UBC’s eHealth Strategy Office have developed MoodFX (pronounced Mood Effects), an interactive website optimized for mobile devices that is designed to help people with depression monitor their symptoms and collaborate with their care providers to achieve better treatment outcomes.
With MoodFX, users are able to:
- Screen for symptoms of depression and anxiety, and for problems with cognition and work functioning.
- Track their symptoms when starting a new treatment for depression.
- Set reminders to check symptoms regularly and before appointments.
- Print, email, or show results to their doctor right on their mobile device.
- View their past results and progress over time with simple charts.
- Receive helpful tips for managing depression, anxiety, and difficulties with cognition and work stress.
- Monitor for the return of any symptoms once they are feeling better.
MoodFX is available for free at www.MoodFX.ca.
Read more about MoodFX and the official release here.
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A randomized controlled trial (RCT) shows effectiveness of MoodFX to improve depression outcomes!
E-health tools may be useful for measuring and tracking symptoms and other outcomes during treatment for depression. This study is a randomized evaluation of MoodFX, a free web-based app that helps patients track their symptoms using validated questionnaires, and also offers depression information and self-management tips. A total of 49 participants with clinical depression were randomized to using MoodFX or a health information website, for 6 months. In a survey, the participants that used MoodFX found it easy and useful to use. In addition, the participants that used MoodFX had greater improvement in depressive symptoms after 6 months, compared to those who used the health information website. These results suggest that MoodFX may be a useful tool to monitor outcomes and support depression treatment.