Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Clinical Sciences Building, 11 Mandalay Road, 308232, Singapore, Singapore.
Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore, SG, Singapore.
BMC Psychiatry. 2022 Jul 27;22(1):502. doi: 10.1186/s12888-022-04146-0.
Previous studies have identified substantial unmet information needs in people with depression and anxiety. Sufficient information about the disorder, treatment, available services, and strategies for self-management is essential as it may influence quality of care and patients' quality of life. This scoping review aimed to provide a broad overview of information needs of people with depression and anxiety as well as the sources that they use to seek this information.
We included all primary research published in English that investigated information needs or information sources in people with depression or anxiety, with no restrictions imposed on the study design, location, setting, or participant characteristics. Six electronic databases (MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, LISTA, Web of Science) and the grey literature (Google and Google Scholar) were searched for relevant studies published up to November 2021. Two reviewers independently screened articles and extracted data. Narrative synthesis was performed to identify key themes of information needs and information sources. Factors associated with information needs/sources such as demographic variables and symptom severity were also identified.
Fifty-six studies (comprising 8320 participants) were included. Information needs were categorised into seven themes, including general facts, treatment, lived experience, healthcare services, coping, financial/legal, and other information. The most frequently reported needs in both people with depression and anxiety were general facts and treatment information. Subclinical samples who self-reported depressive/anxious symptoms appeared less interested in treatment information than patients with clinical diagnoses. Information sources were summarised into five categories: health professionals, written materials, media, interpersonal interactions, and organisational resources. Health professionals and media (including the internet) were the most frequently adopted and preferred sources. Although few studies have examined factors associated with information needs and information sources, there is preliminary evidence that symptom severity and disease subtypes are related to information needs/sources, whereas findings on demographic factors were mixed.
Information needs appear to be high in people with depression and anxiety. Future research should examine differences between subgroups and associated factors such as the treatment course. Personalised information provision strategies are also needed to customise information according to individual needs and patient profiles.
The protocol of this scoping review was registered on Open Science Framework (OSF; link: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DF2M6 ).
先前的研究已经确定了抑郁症和焦虑症患者存在大量未满足的信息需求。了解疾病、治疗、可用服务以及自我管理策略的充分信息至关重要，因为这可能会影响护理质量和患者的生活质量。本范围综述旨在广泛概述抑郁症和焦虑症患者的信息需求以及他们用来获取这些信息的来源。
我们纳入了所有以英文发表的、针对抑郁症或焦虑症患者的信息需求或信息来源进行调查的原始研究，对研究设计、地点、环境或参与者特征均不设限制。我们检索了六个电子数据库（MEDLINE、Embase、PsycINFO、CINAHL、LISTA、Web of Science）和灰色文献（Google 和 Google Scholar），以获取截至 2021 年 11 月发表的相关研究。两名审查员独立筛选文章并提取数据。采用叙述性综合方法确定信息需求和信息来源的关键主题。还确定了与信息需求/来源相关的因素，如人口统计学变量和症状严重程度。
纳入了 56 项研究（包含 8320 名参与者）。信息需求分为七个主题，包括一般事实、治疗、生活经历、医疗保健服务、应对方式、财务/法律和其他信息。在抑郁症和焦虑症患者中，最常报告的需求是一般事实和治疗信息。自我报告有抑郁/焦虑症状的亚临床样本对治疗信息的兴趣似乎不如临床诊断的患者。信息来源被总结为五个类别：卫生专业人员、书面材料、媒体、人际互动和组织资源。卫生专业人员和媒体（包括互联网）是最常采用和首选的来源。尽管很少有研究检查信息需求和信息来源相关的因素，但有初步证据表明症状严重程度和疾病亚型与信息需求/来源有关，而关于人口统计学因素的研究结果则不一致。
抑郁症和焦虑症患者的信息需求似乎很高。未来的研究应检查亚组之间的差异以及相关因素，如治疗过程。还需要制定个性化的信息提供策略，根据个体需求和患者特征定制信息。
本范围综述的方案在开放科学框架（OSF；链接：https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/DF2M6）上进行了注册。
