Abstract

Background

The prevalence of mental health disorders is increasing globally, and the prevalence of COVID-19 has made it worse. Evidence has indicated a major mental health burden and elevated anxiety associated with the new coronavirus outbreak in the general population. This study aims to evaluate an evidence-based web application (Naranj) for stress management among Iranian college students.

Methods and design

This study aims to present a protocol related to a randomized controlled trial among Iranian college students. The study will be conducted on 100 students from two colleges of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran. The participants will be randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. The intervention group participants will be provided with a web application, whereas the control group ones will be provided with an app unrelated to stress management. The primary outcome for this study will be the Perceived Stress Scale, and the two groups will be compared with respect to stress level and sleep quality.

Discussion

A web application will be developed according to psychological theories and will be scientifically approved for managing college students’ stress and improving their sleep quality during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Trial registration

Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT20160427027647N2. Registered on 14 May 2020

Details

Title
Efficacy of a web application for stress management among Iranian college students during COVID-19 outbreak: a study protocol for randomized controlled trials
Author
Khademian, Fatemeh 1 ; Aslani, Azam 2 ; Ravangard, Ramin 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bastani, Peivand 4 ; Nami, Mohammad 5 ; Jafari, Peyman 6 

1  Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Student Research Committee, Department of Health Information Management, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698) 
2  National Agency of Strategic Research in Medical Education, Tehran, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4); Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Health Human Resources Research Center, School of Management & Information Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698) 
3  Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Health Human Resources Research Center, School of Management and Medical Information Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698) 
4  Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Health Human Resources Research Center, School of Management & Information Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698) 
5  Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Medical Sciences and Technologies, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698); Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Servicios de Alta Tecnología (INDICASAT AIP), City of Knowledge 084301103, Neuroscience Center, Panama City, Panama (GRID:grid.452535.0) (ISNI:0000 0004 1800 2151); Institute for Cognitive Science Studies, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Pardis, Iran (GRID:grid.482821.5) (ISNI:0000 0004 0382 4515) 
6  Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran (GRID:grid.412571.4) (ISNI:0000 0000 8819 4698) 
Pages
1023
Publication year
2020
Publication date
Dec 2020
Publisher
Springer Nature B.V.
e-ISSN
17456215
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13063-020-04949-0
ProQuest document ID
2812313369
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.