Table 2 Levels of evidence available for web-based support systems
From: A review of web-based support systems for students in higher education
| System | Development studies | Effectiveness studies | Oxford CEBM level | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Systems designed for HE students | CALM | None | None to date | Level 5 |
| MePlusMe |
Development survey (Goozee et al. submitted) Proof of concept [25] | Feasibility study planned (September 2017) | Level 5 | |
| Mindful Kiwi | None | Non-randomised pilot [28] | Level 3 | |
| PLUS | None | Large RCT (n = 1047) [10] | Level 2 | |
| Students Against Depression | None | None to date | Level 5 | |
| theDesk | None | None to date | Level 5 | |
| Systems designed for the general public or other groups | Beating the Blues | Development and beta-testing study [28] | Efficacy in various groups and cost-effectiveness studies [29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37] | Level 2 |
| Big White Wall | None |
Independent review [38] Cost-effectiveness study [39] Case-study [40] | Level 4 | |
| e-couch | None |
Small RCT (n = 21) [43] Effectiveness studies in various groups [44,45,46] Users’ perspectives [47, 48] Randomised double-blind (n = 5620) [49] | Level 2 | |
| FearFighter™ | None |
Pilot study [50] Feasibility study [51] Efficacy study [52] RCT (n = 93) [53] Cost-effectiveness study [54] Feasibility study [55] RCT (n = 35) [56] | Level 3 | |
| Living life to the full | None | None | Level 5 | |
| MoodGym | None |
Efficacy in various groups [57,58,59,60,61] Patient feedback [62] RCTs with positive results [58,59,60,61,62,63] RCTs showing no benefit over psychoeducation or usual care [64,65,66] RCT studying acceptability (n = 106) [68] Meta-analysis [69] Adherence studies [71,72,73] | Level 3 | |
| NHS Silvercloud | None |
Observational studies [74, 75] RCT effectiveness (n = 188) [76] RCT satisfaction (n = 281) [77] | Level 2 | |
| ReachOut.com | None |
User surveys [80, 81] Case-study [79] | Level 4 | |
| Superbetter.com | None | Observational Study [83] | Level 4 | |
| UBalancer | None | None | Level 5 |