Currently submitted to: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: Oct 21, 2024
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effectiveness of digital mental health interventions in the workplace: An umbrella review of systematic reviews
ABSTRACT
Background:
There is potential for digital mental health interventions to provide affordable, efficient, and scalable support to individuals. Digital interventions, including CBT, stress-management, and mindfulness programs, have shown promise when applied in workplace settings.
Objective:
The aim of this study is to conduct an umbrella review of systematic reviews in order to critically evaluate, synthesise, and summarise evidence of various digital mental health interventions available within a workplace setting.
Methods:
A systematic search was conducted to identify systematic reviews relating to digital interventions for the workplace, using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). The review protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (OSF) https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/RC6DS The following databases were searched: Pubmed, Web of Science, Medline, and Cochrane Library. Data was extracted using a pre-defined extraction table. To assess the methodological quality of a study, the AMSTAR-2 tool was used to critically appraise systematic reviews of healthcare interventions.
Results:
The literature search resulted in 4,122 records, which was reduced to 13 full-text systematic literature reviews with the use of Covidence to remove duplicates and screen titles and abstracts. The 13 included reviews were published between 2014 and 2023, comprising of eight systematic reviews and five systematic reviews and meta-analysis. AMSTAR-2 was used to complete a quality assessment of the reviews, the results were critically low (n = 7), and low (n = 6). The most common types of digital intervention studied were cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), mindfulness/meditation, stress-management followed by other self-help interventions. Effectiveness of digital interventions was found for many mental health symptoms and conditions in employee populations, such as stress, anxiety, depression, burnout and psychological wellbeing. Factors such as type of technology, guidance, recruitment, tailoring, and demographics were found to impact on effectiveness.
Conclusions:
This umbrella review aimed to critically evaluate, synthesise and summarise evidence of various digital mental health interventions available within a workplace setting. Despite the low quality of the reviews, best practice guidelines can be derived from factors that impact the effectiveness of digital interventions in the workplace.
Citation
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