Mental Health Screening in General Practices as a Means for Enhancing Uptake of Digital Mental Health Interventions: Observational Cohort Study.
J Med Internet Res
; 23(9): e28369, 2021 09 16.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1414069
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Digital mental health interventions stand to play a critical role in managing the mental health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, enhancing their uptake is a key priority. General practitioners (GPs) are well positioned to facilitate access to digital interventions, but tools that assist GPs in identifying suitable patients are lacking.OBJECTIVE:
This study aims to evaluate the suitability of a web-based mental health screening and treatment recommendation tool (StepCare) for improving the identification of anxiety and depression in general practice and, subsequently, uptake of digital mental health interventions.METHODS:
StepCare screens patients for symptoms of depression (9-item Patient Health Questionnaire) and anxiety (7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale) in the GP waiting room. It provides GPs with stepped treatment recommendations that include digital mental health interventions for patients with mild to moderate symptoms. Patients (N=5138) from 85 general practices across Australia were invited to participate in screening.RESULTS:
Screening identified depressive or anxious symptoms in 43.09% (1428/3314) of patients (one-quarter were previously unidentified or untreated). The majority (300/335, 89.6%) of previously unidentified or untreated patients had mild to moderate symptoms and were candidates for digital mental health interventions. Although less than half were prescribed a digital intervention by their GP, when a digital intervention was prescribed, more than two-thirds of patients reported using it.CONCLUSIONS:
Implementing web-based mental health screening in general practices can provide important opportunities for GPs to improve the identification of symptoms of mental illness and increase patient access to digital mental health interventions. Although GPs prescribed digital interventions less frequently than in-person psychotherapy or medication, the promising rates of uptake by GP-referred patients suggest that GPs can play a critical role in championing digital interventions and maximizing the associated benefits.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
General Practice
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Med Internet Res
Journal subject:
Medical Informatics
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
28369
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