BinDhim Nasser F, Shaman Ahmed M, Trevena Lyndal, Basyouni Mada H, Pont Lisa G, Alhawassi Tariq M
School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Public Health and Health Informatics School, College of Health Sciences, Saudi Electronic University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2015 Jan;22(1):29-34. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2014-002840. Epub 2014 Oct 17.
Smartphone applications (apps) have the potential to be valuable self-help interventions for depression screening. However, information about their feasibility and effectiveness and the characteristics of app users is limited. The aim of this study is to explore the uptake, utilization, and characteristics of voluntary users of an app for depression screening.
This was a cross-sectional study of a free depression screening smartphone app that contains the demographics, patient health questionnaire (PHQ-9), brief anxiety test, personalized recommendation based on the participant's results, and links to depression-relevant websites. The free app was released globally via Apple's App Store. Participants aged 18 and older downloaded the study app and were recruited passively between September 2012 and January 2013.
8241 participants from 66 countries had downloaded the app, with a response rate of 73.9%. While one quarter of the participants had a previous diagnosis of depression, the prevalence of participants with a higher risk of depression was 82.5% and 66.8% at PHQ-9 cut-off 11 and cut-off 15, respectively. Many of the participants had one or more physical comorbid conditions and suicidal ideation. The cut-off 11 (OR: 1.4; 95% CI 1.2 to 1.6), previous depression diagnosis (OR: 1.3; 95% CI1.2 to 1.5), and postgraduate educational level (OR: 1.2; 95% CI 1.0 to 1.5) were associated with completing the PHQ-9 questionnaire more than once.
Smartphone apps can be used to deliver a screening tool for depression across a large number of countries. Apps have the potential to play a significant role in disease screening, self-management, monitoring, and health education, particularly among younger adults.
智能手机应用程序（应用）有潜力成为抑郁症筛查的有价值的自助干预手段。然而，关于其可行性、有效性以及应用程序用户特征的信息有限。本研究的目的是探讨一款抑郁症筛查应用程序的自愿用户的使用情况、利用情况及特征。
这是一项对一款免费抑郁症筛查智能手机应用程序的横断面研究，该应用程序包含人口统计学信息、患者健康问卷（PHQ-9）、简易焦虑测试、基于参与者结果的个性化推荐以及与抑郁症相关网站的链接。这款免费应用程序通过苹果应用商店在全球发布。年龄在18岁及以上的参与者下载了该研究应用程序，并于2012年9月至2013年1月间被被动招募。
来自66个国家的8241名参与者下载了该应用程序，回复率为73.9%。虽然四分之一的参与者之前被诊断为患有抑郁症，但在PHQ-9得分分别为11分和15分的临界值时，抑郁症风险较高的参与者患病率分别为82.5%和66.8%。许多参与者有一种或多种身体合并症以及自杀意念。PHQ-9问卷得分11分（比值比：1.4；95%置信区间1.2至1.6）、之前被诊断为抑郁症（比值比：1.3；95%置信区间1.2至1.5）以及研究生教育水平（比值比：1.2；95%置信区间1.0至！1.5）与多次完成PHQ-9问卷相关。
智能手机应用程序可用于在众多国家提供抑郁症筛查工具。应用程序有潜力在疾病筛查、自我管理、监测和健康教育中发挥重要作用，尤其是在年轻成年人中。
