TY - JOUR
T1 - Patient interest in mental health mobile app interventions
T2 - Demographic and symptom-level differences
AU - Lipschitz, Jessica M.
AU - Connolly, Samantha L.
AU - Miller, Christopher J.
AU - Hogan, Timothy P.
AU - Simon, Steven R.
AU - Burdick, Katherine E.
N1 - Funding Information:
JML obtained internal funding from the VA Office of Academic Affairs for this study. JML, SRS and TPH designed the study. CJM and SLC conducted data analyses. JML, SLC, CJM, TPH, SRS and KEB all contributed to interpretation of findings and writing. All authors approved of the final manuscript.
Funding Information:
This study was supported by internally awarded funds from the VA Office of Academic Affairs. Additionally, the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affiliations Advanced Fellowship Program in Health Services Research, the Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research (CHOIR), VA Boston Healthcare System, supported JML's (partially) and SLC's (fully) contributions to this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
Copyright:
Copyright 2019 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/2/15
Y1 - 2020/2/15
N2 - Background: Mobile app interventions for mental health conditions (MH apps) are an accessible and effective but underutilized treatment option. Learning which patients are most interested in MH apps is important for informing stakeholders where to position these treatments within the healthcare landscape. This study examined the relationship between patient characteristics and interest in MH apps. Methods: A demographically-balanced sample of 400 patients diagnosed with depression, anxiety and/or post-traumatic stress disorder were identified from VA corporate data warehouse records. These individuals were mailed an information packet explaining the study and the study survey for those who opted to participate. The survey contained questions on demographics, symptom severity and interest in MH apps. 149 participants returned completed surveys. Results: Level of interest in MH apps was consistent across race, sex and education level. Patients reporting no interest in MH apps had less severe symptoms and were older than patients reporting some or high interest. Limitations: Participants were Veterans in one geographic region; our sample size was not large enough to evaluate more fine-grained demographic differences; replication would be required to better understand generalizability of findings. Conclusions: Findings suggest interest in MH apps may be more similar across demographic groups than previously thought. This stands in juxtaposition to interest in clinic-based services, for which men and minorities have traditionally reported less interest and show lower utilization. Findings also counter prevailing notions that MH apps will be best received by less symptomatic patients. Implications for integrating MH apps into care are discussed.
AB - Background: Mobile app interventions for mental health conditions (MH apps) are an accessible and effective but underutilized treatment option. Learning which patients are most interested in MH apps is important for informing stakeholders where to position these treatments within the healthcare landscape. This study examined the relationship between patient characteristics and interest in MH apps. Methods: A demographically-balanced sample of 400 patients diagnosed with depression, anxiety and/or post-traumatic stress disorder were identified from VA corporate data warehouse records. These individuals were mailed an information packet explaining the study and the study survey for those who opted to participate. The survey contained questions on demographics, symptom severity and interest in MH apps. 149 participants returned completed surveys. Results: Level of interest in MH apps was consistent across race, sex and education level. Patients reporting no interest in MH apps had less severe symptoms and were older than patients reporting some or high interest. Limitations: Participants were Veterans in one geographic region; our sample size was not large enough to evaluate more fine-grained demographic differences; replication would be required to better understand generalizability of findings. Conclusions: Findings suggest interest in MH apps may be more similar across demographic groups than previously thought. This stands in juxtaposition to interest in clinic-based services, for which men and minorities have traditionally reported less interest and show lower utilization. Findings also counter prevailing notions that MH apps will be best received by less symptomatic patients. Implications for integrating MH apps into care are discussed.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Depression
KW - Mobile apps
KW - Race
KW - Sex
KW - mHealth
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.083
DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2019.11.083
M3 - Article
C2 - 31818779
AN - SCOPUS:85076105896
VL - 263
SP - 216
EP - 220
JO - Journal of Affective Disorders
JF - Journal of Affective Disorders
SN - 0165-0327
ER -