Clinical Evidence

The science behind Somana

Somana includes wellbeing activities and questionnaires studied in research. Evidence about an activity or questionnaire does not establish that Somana itself is effective as a treatment. Somana has not published product-specific clinical trial results.

1. Research on Instruments and Activities

The instruments below have published research on their measurement properties. Their use in Somana does not make the app a diagnostic service, and scores are not a diagnosis.

PHQ-9 - Patient Health Questionnaire

Depression screening

A 9-item questionnaire studied as a measure of depressive symptoms. A score is not a diagnosis and should not be used alone to make care decisions.

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R.L., & Williams, J.B. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606-613.

GAD-7 - Generalised Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety screening

A 7-item questionnaire studied as a measure of anxiety symptoms. A score is not a diagnosis and should not be used alone to make care decisions.

Spitzer, R.L., Kroenke, K., Williams, J.B., & Lowe, B. (2006). A brief measure for assessing generalised anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Archives of Internal Medicine, 166(10), 1092-1097.

WHO-5 - World Health Organization Wellbeing Index

General wellbeing

A 5-item wellbeing questionnaire developed by the World Health Organization. It records self-reported wellbeing; it does not diagnose a condition.

World Health Organization (1998). WHO-Five Well-being Index. WHO Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen.

Expressive Writing / Journaling

Therapeutic journaling

Research has examined expressive writing, but findings from those studies do not show that Somana's journal feature has a therapeutic effect. Journal text and voice recordings stay on the device; limited journal activity metadata may be sent to Somana's servers.

Pennebaker, J.W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8(3), 162-166.

Controlled Breathing / Breathwork

Stress and anxiety reduction

Research has studied paced and diaphragmatic breathing. Results from particular studies do not establish that Somana's breathing exercises reduce symptoms or produce a health outcome.

Ma, X., et al. (2017). The effect of diaphragmatic breathing on attention, negative affect, and stress in healthy adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 874.

Behavioural Activation

CBT core component

Behavioural activation is an approach used in some cognitive behavioural therapies. Somana is not a course of CBT and does not provide treatment.

Jacobson, N.S., et al. (2001). Behavioral activation treatment for depression: Returning to contextual roots. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 8(3), 255-270.

Mindfulness Meditation

Evidence-based practice

Meditation programmes have been studied in research. Evidence about those programmes cannot be taken as evidence that Somana's meditation content treats anxiety, depression, pain, or any other condition.

Goyal, M., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357-368.

2. Measurable Outcomes

Somana does not claim to cure or treat mental health conditions. It records selected activity and self-reported measures; it has not been shown to improve engagement, adherence, or health outcomes.

The app records selected activity measures. These records are not evidence of adherence, engagement improvement, or clinical benefit.

Engagement Frequency - Sessions per week, daily active usage, feature utilisation across meditation, journaling, breathwork, and mood tracking.
Care-plan tasks - Some tasks assigned and marked complete in the app; this is not evidence of clinical adherence or benefit.
Consistency Streaks - Consecutive days of engagement, gap frequency analysis, and streak recovery patterns over time.
Session Completion - Percentage of started sessions that are completed.
Recorded activity - Some activity between dates recorded in the app; Somana does not continuously monitor users.

3. Outcome Correlation

Somana has not established a relationship between app activity and changes in symptoms or wellbeing. Any future analysis would require an appropriate research design, lawful basis, and permissions; correlation alone would not show that app use caused a change.

App alerts are rule-based summaries and are not validated early-intervention signals.

4. Research Readiness

Somana is not a research platform and does not currently make research data available as anonymised cohort data. Any future research use would need separate assessment, appropriate permissions, and clear information for participants.

Questionnaires - PHQ-9, GAD-7, and WHO-5 can be completed in the app; scores are informational and do not diagnose.
Activity and score history - The app displays selected activity and score history but does not establish that activity caused a change in a score.
Privacy - Journal text and voice recordings remain on-device. Identifiable account, mood, activity, and assessment information is processed on Somana's servers.
Research data - Somana does not currently provide anonymised outcome data or aggregate research cohort analytics.
Healthcare professional access - Linked providers may access permitted user wellness records. This does not authorise research use.

5. External Evidence and Endorsements

Policy and research programmes mentioned elsewhere are independent of Somana and do not endorse or validate this app. External source claims require independent verification before publication.

Summary

Published instruments: PHQ-9, GAD-7, and WHO-5 have published research; their use in Somana is not a diagnosis.
Product evidence: Somana has not established clinical efficacy or improved adherence.
Research: Any future analysis requires appropriate governance; correlation does not demonstrate causation.
Independent programmes: Policy and research examples do not endorse Somana.

For research partnership enquiries: info@somanaapp.com