Bai Pu, Brignone Emily, Jiang Bibo, Pinto Casey, Wang Li
Department of Public Health Sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, PA, USA.
Director of Social Determinants and Research Analytics, Highmark Health, Pittsburgh, USA.
Digit Health. 2025 Mar 29;11:20552076251321999. doi: 10.1177/20552076251321999. eCollection 2025 Jan-Dec.
Telehealth use has significantly increased recently. However, little is known about its use by individuals with depression or anxiety disorders. This study aims to explore the patterns of telehealth use among those individuals.
Data used were from the 2022 Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) cycle 6. Weighted logistic regression was performed to test the association between depression/anxiety disorder and telehealth use, and to explore reasons for using/not using telehealth among those with depression/anxiety, compared to those without.
Out of the 4952 study participants, 2887 (weighted percentage: 39.36%) had used telehealth in the past 12 months. Those with depression/anxiety disorder had significantly higher telehealth use, compared to those without (57% vs. 32%; OR = 2.65; 95% CI: (2.04, 3.43)). Factors affecting telehealth use could differ by depression/anxiety disorder status. Among those with depression/anxiety disorder, being woman or married was not associated with telehealth use, whereas they were significant factors among those without depression/anxiety disorder. Among those with depression/anxiety, non-Hispanic Black participants (OR = 0.51; CI: (0.78, 0.94)) were less likely to use telehealth, compared to non-Hispanic White participants; additionally, higher income was associated with telehealth use. Regarding reasons for using telehealth, convenience (OR = 1.80; CI: (1.21, 2.68)) and avoiding COVID infection (OR = 1.40; CI: (1.06, 1.86)) were more likely considered by those with depression/anxiety disorder.
Individuals with depression/anxiety disorder were more likely to use telehealth and to do so for reasons of convenience and avoiding infection. Promoting telehealth to those with depression/anxiety disorder should consider their unique utilization patterns.
远程医疗的使用近来显著增加。然而，对于抑郁症或焦虑症患者使用远程医疗的情况知之甚少。本研究旨在探索这些患者使用远程医疗的模式。
使用的数据来自2022年全国健康信息趋势调查（HINTS）第6轮。进行加权逻辑回归以检验抑郁症/焦虑症与远程医疗使用之间的关联，并探讨抑郁症/焦虑症患者与非患者相比使用/不使用远程医疗的原因。
在4952名研究参与者中，2887人（加权百分比：39.36%）在过去12个月中使用过远程医疗。与非抑郁症/焦虑症患者相比，抑郁症/焦虑症患者的远程医疗使用率显著更高（57%对32%；OR = 2.65；95% CI：(2.04, 3.43)）。影响远程医疗使用的因素可能因抑郁症/焦虑症状态而异。在抑郁症/焦虑症患者中，女性或已婚与远程医疗使用无关，而在非抑郁症/焦虑症患者中，这是显著因素。在抑郁症/焦虑症患者中，与非西班牙裔白人参与者相比，非西班牙裔黑人参与者（OR = 0.51；CI：(0.78, 0.94)）使用远程医疗的可能性较小；此外，高收入与远程医疗使用相关。关于使用远程医疗的原因，抑郁症/焦虑症患者更可能考虑便利性（OR = 1.80；CI：(1.21, 2.68)）和避免感染新冠病毒（OR = 1.40；CI：(1.06, 1.86)）。
抑郁症/焦虑症患者更可能使用远程医疗，且出于便利性和避免感染的原因。向抑郁症/焦虑症患者推广远程医疗应考虑他们独特的使用模式。
