PTSD Coach Mobile Application With Brief Telephone Support: A Pilot Study

The number of health care mobile applications (MAs) has increased drastically in recent years, but research on efficacy and approaches to provide MA intervention is lacking. The PTSD Coach was designed to help individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms to understand and manage symptoms. Use of MA tends to drop off quickly; this pilot study tested the use of the PTSD Coach with brief telephone support by paraprofessionals. A total of 29 participants with elevated PTSD symptoms recruited from Veterans Affairs primary care clinics completed baseline and 4-month follow-up surveys including the PTSD Checklist, Patient Health Questionnaire for depressive symptoms, and Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire. Participants received PTSD Coach MA intervention plus paraprofessional brief telephone support reported the phone support was helpful and greater than 70% of participants maintained use of the MA throughout the 3-month intervention period. Results indicated that participants showed significant improvement on PTSD reexperiencing symptoms, depressive symptoms, and quality of life after intervention. The PTSD Coach MA plus brief telephone support is a promising approach for primary care patients managing psychiatric symptoms.