University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
Depress Anxiety. 2012 Jan;29(1):71-7. doi: 10.1002/da.20848. Epub 2011 Jun 16.
The number of individuals looking for health information on the Internet continues to expand. The purpose of this study was to understand the prevalence of major depression among English-speaking individuals worldwide looking for information on depression online.
An automated online Mood Screener website was created and advertised via Google AdWords, for 1 year. Participants (N = 24,965) completed a depression screening measure and received feedback based on their results. Participants were then invited to participate in a longitudinal mood screening study.
Of the 24,965 who completed the screening, 66.6% screened positive for current major depression, 44.4% indicated current suicidality, and 7.8% reported a recent (past 2 weeks) suicide attempt. Of those consenting to participate in the longitudinal study (n = 1,327 from 86 countries), 77.4% screened positive for past depression, 64.6% reported past suicidality, and 17.5% past suicide attempt. Yet, only 25% of those screening positive for current depression, and only 37.2% of those reporting a recent suicide attempt are in treatment.
Many of the consumers of Internet health information may genuinely need treatment and are not "cyberchondriacs." Online screening, treatment, and prevention efforts may have the potential to serve many currently untreated clinically depressed and suicidal individuals.
寻求互联网健康信息的人数持续增长。本研究旨在了解全球范围内寻求在线抑郁信息的英语使用者中重度抑郁症的患病率。
创建了一个自动化在线情绪筛查网站，并通过 Google AdWords 进行了为期 1 年的广告宣传。参与者（N=24965）完成了抑郁筛查量表，并根据他们的结果获得反馈。然后邀请参与者参加一项纵向情绪筛查研究。
在完成筛查的 24965 人中，66.6%筛查出当前患有重度抑郁症，44.4%表示当前有自杀倾向，7.8%报告最近（过去 2 周）有自杀企图。在同意参加纵向研究的（n=86 个国家的 1327 名参与者）中，77.4%筛查出过去患有抑郁症，64.6%报告过去有自杀倾向，17.5%过去有自杀企图。然而，只有 25%的当前患有抑郁症的筛查阳性者和只有 37.2%的最近有自杀企图的人正在接受治疗。
许多互联网健康信息的消费者可能确实需要治疗，而不是“网络疑病症患者”。在线筛查、治疗和预防措施可能有潜力服务于许多目前未经治疗的临床抑郁和自杀个体。
