Internet-connected devices ownership, use and interests in bipolar disorder: from desktop to mobile mental health

TY - JOUR

T1 - Internet-connected devices ownership, use and interests in bipolar disorder: from desktop to mobile mental health

AU - Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego

AU - Nikolova, Viktoriya L.

AU - Kitchen , Simon

AU - Young, Allan H.

PY - 2019

Y1 - 2019

N2 - Advances in communication technologies have led to a new era of ubiquitous accessibility to Internet-based platforms (IBPs) and devices with an unprecedented potential for mental health. However, it is rarely explored if potential user groups own devices from which they can access these or whether they are interested in the development of new platforms. Two anonymous surveys were circulated to 20,000 subscribers of the Bipolar UK e-newsletter. A total of 570 people responded to the first survey and 286 responded to the second. The first contained five questions regarding participants’ interest in a smartphone IBP to support their illness while the second consisted in 27 questions exploring devices ownership and use as well as their potential interest in emerging new IBPs: 97.6% of respondents were diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) by a healthcare professional and 92.8% of them owned a smartphone. The most frequent purposes for daily smartphone use were text messaging (73.4%),e-mail (71.3%) and social networks (53.8%). About 77% of respondents expressed willingness to receive self-management strategies through a smartphone app. The pattern of widespread and growing ownership and use of devices with access to IBPs among people with BD is similar to that of the general population. Combined with the expressed interest in novel technological developments for disorder self-management, this represents a great opportunity to establish a two-way avenue to collect and deliver novel type of interventions offering personalized material to people with BD

AB - Advances in communication technologies have led to a new era of ubiquitous accessibility to Internet-based platforms (IBPs) and devices with an unprecedented potential for mental health. However, it is rarely explored if potential user groups own devices from which they can access these or whether they are interested in the development of new platforms. Two anonymous surveys were circulated to 20,000 subscribers of the Bipolar UK e-newsletter. A total of 570 people responded to the first survey and 286 responded to the second. The first contained five questions regarding participants’ interest in a smartphone IBP to support their illness while the second consisted in 27 questions exploring devices ownership and use as well as their potential interest in emerging new IBPs: 97.6% of respondents were diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD) by a healthcare professional and 92.8% of them owned a smartphone. The most frequent purposes for daily smartphone use were text messaging (73.4%),e-mail (71.3%) and social networks (53.8%). About 77% of respondents expressed willingness to receive self-management strategies through a smartphone app. The pattern of widespread and growing ownership and use of devices with access to IBPs among people with BD is similar to that of the general population. Combined with the expressed interest in novel technological developments for disorder self-management, this represents a great opportunity to establish a two-way avenue to collect and deliver novel type of interventions offering personalized material to people with BD

U2 - 10.1080/2575517X.2019.1616476

DO - 10.1080/2575517X.2019.1616476

M3 - Article

VL - 2

SP - 1

EP - 7

JO - Digital Psychiatry

JF - Digital Psychiatry

IS - 1

ER -