StratCare Trial 2: Evaluating the Clinical and Cost-effectiveness of AI-driven Stratified Care for Depression

The StratCare app is a technology that collects data, processes inputs using a machine learning algorithm, and outputs a personalised treatment recommendation using automated decision rules. The inputs for the algorithm include patient-reported measures of depression, anxiety, functional impairment, personality traits, employment status and ethnic background. The algorithm calculates an expected prognosis (i.e., a probability of full remission of depression and anxiety symptoms after treatment), based on which patients are classified as standard (better expected prognosis) or complex cases. Standard cases are matched to low-intensity treatments and later have the option to move to high-intensity, whereas complex cases are matched directly to high-intensity treatments. In addition, the StratCare app is programmed to implement decision rules that ensure compliance with national clinical guidelines for the treatment allocation of patients with specific disorders.