Nogueira-Leite Diogo, Cruz-Correia Ricardo
Department of Community Medicine, Information and Decision in Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Nova School of Business and Economics Health and Economics Knowledge Center, New University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2023 Mar 14;12:e41040. doi: 10.2196/41040.
Digital transformation is impacting health care delivery. Great market dynamism is bringing opportunities and concerns alike into public discussion. Digital health apps are a vibrant segment where regulation is emerging, with Germany paving the way with its DiGA (Digitale Gesundheitsanwendungen, in German, meaning digital health apps) program. Simultaneously, mental ill-health constitutes a global health concern, and prevalence is expected to worsen due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its containment measures. Portugal and its National Health System may be a useful testbed for digital health interventions.
The paper outlines the protocol for a research project on the attitudes of physicians and potential users toward digital mental health apps to improve access to care, patient outcomes, and reduce the burden of disease of mental ill-health.
Web surveys will be conducted to acquire data from the main stakeholders (physicians and the academic community). Data analysis will replicate the statistical analysis performed in the studies from Dahlhausen and Borghouts to derive conclusions regarding the relative acceptance and likelihood of successful implementation of digital mental health apps in Portugal.
The findings of the proposed studies will elicit important information on how physicians and individuals perceive digital mental health app interventions to improve access to care, patient outcomes, and reduce the burden of disease of mental ill-health. Data collection ran between September 26 and November 6, 2022, for the first study and September 20 and October 20, 2022, for the second study. We obtained 160 responses to the first study's survey and 539 answers to the second study's survey. Data analysis is concluded, and both studies' results are expected to be published in 2023.
The results of the studies projected in this research protocol will have implications for researchers and academia, industry, and policy makers concerning the adoption and implementation of digital health mental apps and associated interventions.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): DERR1-10.2196/41040.
数字转型正在影响医疗服务的提供。巨大的市场活力将机遇和担忧都带入了公众讨论。数字健康应用程序是一个充满活力的领域，监管正在兴起，德国通过其DiGA（德语，意为数字健康应用程序）计划引领了道路。与此同时，精神健康问题是一个全球健康问题，由于COVID-19大流行及其防控措施，患病率预计会恶化。葡萄牙及其国家卫生系统可能是数字健康干预措施的一个有用试验平台。
本文概述了一个研究项目的方案，该项目旨在研究医生和潜在用户对数字心理健康应用程序的态度，以改善医疗服务的可及性、患者治疗效果，并减轻精神健康问题的疾病负担。
将进行网络调查，以从主要利益相关者（医生和学术界）获取数据。数据分析将重复Dahlhausen和Borghouts研究中的统计分析，以得出关于数字心理健康应用程序在葡萄牙被相对接受的程度以及成功实施的可能性的结论。
拟议研究的结果将得出重要信息，说明医生和个人如何看待数字心理健康应用程序干预措施对改善医疗服务可及性、患者治疗效果以及减轻精神健康问题疾病负担的作用。第一项研究的数据收集于2022年9月26日至11月6日进行，第二项研究的数据收集于2022年9月20日至10月20日进行。我们收到了第一项研究调查的160份回复和第二项研究调查的539份答案。数据分析已完成，两项研究的结果预计将于2023年发表。
本研究方案中预计的研究结果将对研究人员、学术界、行业以及政策制定者在采用和实施数字健康心理应用程序及相关干预措施方面产生影响。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：DERR1-10.2196/41040。
