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Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women

BACKGROUND: Major depressive episodes (MDEs) are prevalent in the workplace and affect workers’ health and productivity. Therefore, there is a pressing need for innovation in the prevention of MDEs in the workplace. Electronic mental (e-mental) health programs are a cost-effective approach toward th...

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Autores principales: Smail-Crevier, Rachel, Powers, Gabrielle, Noel, Chelsea, Wang, JianLi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: JMIR Publications 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6441854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30882361
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11224
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author Smail-Crevier, Rachel
Powers, Gabrielle
Noel, Chelsea
Wang, JianLi
author_facet Smail-Crevier, Rachel
Powers, Gabrielle
Noel, Chelsea
Wang, JianLi
author_sort Smail-Crevier, Rachel
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Major depressive episodes (MDEs) are prevalent in the workplace and affect workers’ health and productivity. Therefore, there is a pressing need for innovation in the prevention of MDEs in the workplace. Electronic mental (e-mental) health programs are a cost-effective approach toward the self-management of stress and emotional issues. E-mental health dropout rate, MDE prevalence, and symptoms greatly vary by sex and age. Thus, the development and implementation of e-mental health programs for the prevention of MDEs need to be examined through a sex and age lens to enhance program use and effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine design feature preferences based on sex and age for an e-mental health program targeted toward depression prevention. METHODS: Household residents across Canada were contacted using the random digit dialing method. 500 women and 511 men who were 18 years and older and who were at high risk of having MDEs were interviewed. Internet use was assessed using questions from the 2012 Canadian Internet Use Survey conducted by Statistics Canada, and preferred design features of e-mental health program questions were developed by the BroMatters team members. The proportions of likely use of specific features of e-mental health programs in women were estimated and compared with those in men using chi-square tests. The comparisons were made overall and by age groups. RESULTS: Men (181/511, 35.4%) and women (211/500, 42.2%) differed significantly in their likelihood of using an e-mental health program. Compared with men (307/489, 62.8%), women (408/479, 85.2%) were more likely to use the internet for medical or health-related information. Women were more likely to use the following design features: practices and exercises to help reduce symptoms of stress and depression (350/500, 70.7%), a self-help interactive program that provides information about stress and work problems (302/500, 61.8%), the ability to ask questions and receive answers from mental health professionals via email or text message (294/500, 59.9%), and to receive printed materials by mail (215/500, 43.4%). Men preferred to receive information in a video game format (156/511, 30.7%). Younger men (46/73, 63%) and younger women (49/60, 81%) were more likely to access a program through a mobile phone or an app, and younger men preferred having access to information in a video game format. CONCLUSIONS: Factors such as sex and age influenced design feature preferences for an e-mental health program. Working women who are at high risk for MDEs preferred interactive programs incorporating practice and exercise for reducing stress, quality information about work stress, and some guidance from professionals. This suggests that sex and age should be taken into account when designing e-mental health programs to meet the needs of individuals seeking help via Web-based mental health programs and to enhance their use.
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spelling pubmed-64418542019-04-17 Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women Smail-Crevier, Rachel Powers, Gabrielle Noel, Chelsea Wang, JianLi J Med Internet Res Original Paper BACKGROUND: Major depressive episodes (MDEs) are prevalent in the workplace and affect workers’ health and productivity. Therefore, there is a pressing need for innovation in the prevention of MDEs in the workplace. Electronic mental (e-mental) health programs are a cost-effective approach toward the self-management of stress and emotional issues. E-mental health dropout rate, MDE prevalence, and symptoms greatly vary by sex and age. Thus, the development and implementation of e-mental health programs for the prevention of MDEs need to be examined through a sex and age lens to enhance program use and effectiveness. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine design feature preferences based on sex and age for an e-mental health program targeted toward depression prevention. METHODS: Household residents across Canada were contacted using the random digit dialing method. 500 women and 511 men who were 18 years and older and who were at high risk of having MDEs were interviewed. Internet use was assessed using questions from the 2012 Canadian Internet Use Survey conducted by Statistics Canada, and preferred design features of e-mental health program questions were developed by the BroMatters team members. The proportions of likely use of specific features of e-mental health programs in women were estimated and compared with those in men using chi-square tests. The comparisons were made overall and by age groups. RESULTS: Men (181/511, 35.4%) and women (211/500, 42.2%) differed significantly in their likelihood of using an e-mental health program. Compared with men (307/489, 62.8%), women (408/479, 85.2%) were more likely to use the internet for medical or health-related information. Women were more likely to use the following design features: practices and exercises to help reduce symptoms of stress and depression (350/500, 70.7%), a self-help interactive program that provides information about stress and work problems (302/500, 61.8%), the ability to ask questions and receive answers from mental health professionals via email or text message (294/500, 59.9%), and to receive printed materials by mail (215/500, 43.4%). Men preferred to receive information in a video game format (156/511, 30.7%). Younger men (46/73, 63%) and younger women (49/60, 81%) were more likely to access a program through a mobile phone or an app, and younger men preferred having access to information in a video game format. CONCLUSIONS: Factors such as sex and age influenced design feature preferences for an e-mental health program. Working women who are at high risk for MDEs preferred interactive programs incorporating practice and exercise for reducing stress, quality information about work stress, and some guidance from professionals. This suggests that sex and age should be taken into account when designing e-mental health programs to meet the needs of individuals seeking help via Web-based mental health programs and to enhance their use. JMIR Publications 2019-03-18 /pmc/articles/PMC6441854/ /pubmed/30882361 http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11224 Text en ©Rachel Smail-Crevier, Gabrielle Powers, Chelsea Noel, JianLi Wang. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 18.03.2019. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on http://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
spellingShingle Original Paper
Smail-Crevier, Rachel
Powers, Gabrielle
Noel, Chelsea
Wang, JianLi
Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title_full Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title_fullStr Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title_full_unstemmed Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title_short Health-Related Internet Usage and Design Feature Preference for E-Mental Health Programs Among Men and Women
title_sort health-related internet usage and design feature preference for e-mental health programs among men and women
topic Original Paper
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6441854/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30882361
http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/11224
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