Quality of information sources about mental disorders: a comparison of Wikipedia with centrally controlled web and printed sources

Readability of publicly available mental health information: A systematic review

OBJECTIVE

Relatively little research has examined the health literacy demand of public communication (e.g. websites, pamphlets, and posters) about mental disorders. This study describes characteristics of existing research and summarizes what is known about the readability of such information.

METHODS

A search of eight data bases yielded 33 studies that met inclusion criteria. Studies were screened for relevance at each stage and then coded for key characteristics and appraised for quality by both authors working independently.

RESULTS

Grade-level readability scores as measured by the Flesch-Kincaid, SMOG, and other indices ranged from 6th to 17th grade. Most Flesch Reading Ease scores fell within the 30-50 range. Results of accessibility measures were inconsistent.

CONCLUSION

With the recommended readability level for health communication set at sixth grade, most publicly available information about mental disorders uses vocabulary and sentence structure that is too complex for the general public. Mixed evidence indicated that accessibility issues are also problematic.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Developers of health information need to decrease health literacy demand in written mental health information to ensure patients and their families may benefit from this information.

A diachronic perspective on citation latency in Wikipedia articles on CRISPR/Cas-9: an exploratory case study

This paper analyzes Wikipedia's representation of the Nobel Prize winning CRISPR/Cas9 technology, a method for gene editing. We propose and evaluate different heuristics to match publications from several publication corpora against Wikipedia's central article on CRISPR and against the complete Wikipedia revision history in order to retrieve further Wikipedia articles relevant to the topic and to analyze Wikipedia's referencing patterns. We explore to what extent the selection of referenced literature of Wikipedia's central article on CRISPR adheres to scientific standards and inner-scientific perspectives by assessing its overlap with (1) the Web of Science (WoS) database, (2) a WoS-based field-delineated corpus, (3) highly-cited publications within this corpus, and (4) publications referenced by field-specific reviews. We develop a diachronic perspective on citation latency and compare the delays with which publications are cited in relevant Wikipedia articles to the citation dynamics of these publications over time. Our results confirm that a combination of verbatim searches by title, DOI, and PMID is sufficient and cannot be improved significantly by more elaborate search heuristics. We show that Wikipedia references a substantial amount of publications that are recognized by experts and highly cited, but that Wikipedia also cites less visible literature, and, to a certain degree, even not strictly scientific literature. Delays in occurrence on Wikipedia compared to the publication years show (most pronounced in case of the central CRISPR article) a dependence on the dynamics of both the field and the editor's reaction to it in terms of activity.

What's hot and what's not in lay psychology: Wikipedia's most-viewed articles

We studied views of articles about psychology on 10 language editions of Wikipedia from July 1, 2015, to January 6, 2021. We were most interested in what psychology topics Wikipedia users wanted to read, and how the frequency of views changed during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns. Our results show that the topics of interest to people seeking psychological knowledge changed during the pandemic. In addition, the interests differ noticeably among the languages. We made two important observations. The first was that during the pandemic, people in most countries looked for new ways to manage their stress without resorting to external help. This is understandable, given the increased stress of lockdown and the limited amount of professional help available. We also found that academic topics, typically covered in university classes, experienced a substantial drop in traffic, which could be indicative of issues with remote teaching.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12144-022-03826-0.

The status of depression literacy and its relationship with quality of life among Iranian public population: a cross sectional study

BACKGROUND

This study was designed and conducted to determine the status of depression literacy (D-Lit) and its relationship with the quality of life across the Iranian population.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2020 among 1382 participating from the general population in Gonabad, Iran. Participants were selected and recruited using a multistage sampling method. Data were collected using three sets of questionnaires (demographic section, D-Lit scale, and quality of life questionnaire). Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 24 and using independent samples t- test, Chi-square test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation.

RESULTS

Based on the results, the mean (± standard deviation) of D-Lit and quality of life were 44.14 (± 4.69) and 35.81 (± 5.17), respectively. Based on the results of Pearson correlation coefficient, there was a significant positive correlation between D-Lit and quality of life (r = 0.104, p < 0.001). D-Lit was significantly higher in those who reported having consulted with a psychiatrist compared with those who did not (p < 0.001). Participants with a family history of mental illness and those whose family members were referred to a psychologist for psychological issues had significantly higher levels of D-Lit than others (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of this study, some D-Lit projects should be improved. Also, the results revealed that D-Lit is a potential factor that can affect people's mental health status and enhance their quality of life. Therefore, it is necessary to develop appropriate educational programs to enhance D-Lit in the community and ultimately improve the quality of life in the community by reducing mental illness.

An examination of the quality of late-life depression websites on the Internet (Preprint)

Background

The internet can increase the accessibility of mental health information and improve the mental health literacy of older adults. The quality of mental health information on the internet can be inaccurate or biased, leading to misinformation.

Objective

This study aims to evaluate the quality, usability, and readability of websites providing information concerning depression in later life.

Methods

Websites were identified through a Google search and evaluated by assessing quality (DISCERN), usability (Patient Education Materials Assessment Tool), and readability (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook).

Results

The overall quality of late-life depression websites (N=19) was adequate, and the usability and readability were poor. No significant relationship was found between the quality and readability of the websites.

Conclusions

The websites can be improved by enhancing information quality, usability, and readability related to late-life depression. The use of high-quality websites may improve mental health literacy and shared treatment decision-making for older adults.

Do We Trust the Crowd? Effects of Crowdsourcing on Perceived Credibility of Online Health Information

Crowdsourcing websites such as Wikipedia have become go-to places for health information. To what extent do we trust such health content that is generated by other Internet users? Will it make a difference if such entries are curated by medical professionals? Does the affordance of crowdsourcing make users feel like they themselves could be contributors, and does that influence their credibility judgments? We explored these questions with a 2 (Crowdsourcing: absence vs. presence) × 2 (Professional source: absence vs. presence) × 2 (Message: sunscreen vs. milk) between-subjects experiment (N = 189). Two indirect paths for crowdsourcing effects were found. The crowd-as-source path suggests that crowdsourcing negatively affects content credibility through decreased source trustworthiness and information completeness. In contrast, the self-as-source path indicates that crowdsourcing elevates source trustworthiness via heightened interactivity and sense of control. Although the additional professional source raises perceived gatekeeping on the site, it does not have substantial influence on credibility judgments. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Mental health literacy and quality of life in Iran: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Mental health is one of the effective factors in the quality of life of people. The aim of the present study was to determine the status of mental health literacy (MHL) and its relationship with the quality of life across the Iranian general population.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, a multi-stage sampling method was used to survey 1070 participants from the city of Gonabad (Iran). The data collection tools were demographics section, mental health literacy scale (MHLS), and quality of life (SF-12) questionnaires. The data was analyzed by SPSS software version 24 using Independent sample t- test, One- way ANOVA, Pearson correlation, and logistic regression.

RESULTS

The mean and standard deviation of the total scores of MHL and quality of life were 113.54 (10.34) and 35.26 (6.42), respectively. The results revealed that there was a significant positive correlation between MHL and the quality of life (p < 0.001). In this study, there was a significant relationship between variables of sex, level of education, plus received information about mental illness and MHL (p < 0.001). The quality of life was higher in participants whose family members did not have a mental illness, had a high-income level, and received information about mental illness (p < 0.001). Logistic regression indicated that there was a significant relationship between the ability to recognize mental disorders plus knowledge of where to seek information and obtaining information related to mental health (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Based on the results of this study, there was a correlation between health literacy and quality of life, and more attention should be paid to MHL. Thus, appropriate programs should be designed and implemented to enhance the level of MHL.

Crowdsourcing biocuration: The Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO)

Experimental data about gene functions curated from the primary literature have enormous value for research scientists in understanding biology. Using the Gene Ontology (GO), manual curation by experts has provided an important resource for studying gene function, especially within model organisms. Unprecedented expansion of the scientific literature and validation of the predicted proteins have increased both data value and the challenges of keeping pace. Capturing literature-based functional annotations is limited by the ability of biocurators to handle the massive and rapidly growing scientific literature. Within the community-oriented wiki framework for GO annotation called the Gene Ontology Normal Usage Tracking System (GONUTS), we describe an approach to expand biocuration through crowdsourcing with undergraduates. This multiplies the number of high-quality annotations in international databases, enriches our coverage of the literature on normal gene function, and pushes the field in new directions. From an intercollegiate competition judged by experienced biocurators, Community Assessment of Community Annotation with Ontologies (CACAO), we have contributed nearly 5,000 literature-based annotations. Many of those annotations are to organisms not currently well-represented within GO. Over a 10-year history, our community contributors have spurred changes to the ontology not traditionally covered by professional biocurators. The CACAO principle of relying on community members to participate in and shape the future of biocuration in GO is a powerful and scalable model used to promote the scientific enterprise. It also provides undergraduate students with a unique and enriching introduction to critical reading of primary literature and acquisition of marketable skills.

Constructing High-Fidelity Phenotype Knowledge Graphs for Infectious Diseases With a Fine-Grained Semantic Information Model: Development and Usability Study

BACKGROUND

Phenotypes characterize the clinical manifestations of diseases and provide important information for diagnosis. Therefore, the construction of phenotype knowledge graphs for diseases is valuable to the development of artificial intelligence in medicine. However, phenotype knowledge graphs in current knowledge bases such as WikiData and DBpedia are coarse-grained knowledge graphs because they only consider the core concepts of phenotypes while neglecting the details (attributes) associated with these phenotypes.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize the details of disease phenotypes for clinical guidelines, we proposed a fine-grained semantic information model named PhenoSSU (semantic structured unit of phenotypes).

METHODS

PhenoSSU is an "entity-attribute-value" model by its very nature, and it aims to capture the full semantic information underlying phenotype descriptions with a series of attributes and values. A total of 193 clinical guidelines for infectious diseases from Wikipedia were selected as the study corpus, and 12 attributes from SNOMED-CT were introduced into the PhenoSSU model based on the co-occurrences of phenotype concepts and attribute values. The expressive power of the PhenoSSU model was evaluated by analyzing whether PhenoSSU instances could capture the full semantics underlying the descriptions of the corresponding phenotypes. To automatically construct fine-grained phenotype knowledge graphs, a hybrid strategy that first recognized phenotype concepts with the MetaMap tool and then predicted the attribute values of phenotypes with machine learning classifiers was developed.

RESULTS

Fine-grained phenotype knowledge graphs of 193 infectious diseases were manually constructed with the BRAT annotation tool. A total of 4020 PhenoSSU instances were annotated in these knowledge graphs, and 3757 of them (89.5%) were found to be able to capture the full semantics underlying the descriptions of the corresponding phenotypes listed in clinical guidelines. By comparison, other information models, such as the clinical element model and the HL7 fast health care interoperability resource model, could only capture the full semantics underlying 48.4% (2034/4020) and 21.8% (914/4020) of the descriptions of phenotypes listed in clinical guidelines, respectively. The hybrid strategy achieved an F1-score of 0.732 for the subtask of phenotype concept recognition and an average weighted accuracy of 0.776 for the subtask of attribute value prediction.

CONCLUSIONS

PhenoSSU is an effective information model for the precise representation of phenotype knowledge for clinical guidelines, and machine learning can be used to improve the efficiency of constructing PhenoSSU-based knowledge graphs. Our work will potentially shift the focus of medical knowledge engineering from a coarse-grained level to a more fine-grained level.

Health information-seeking behavior in the time of COVID-19: information horizons methodology to decipher source path during a global pandemic

Purpose

To determine the differences, as represented by information horizons mapping, in the health information-seeking behavior from a group of participants between March 2019 and April 2020 of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

In March 2019, the author conducted a study on health information-seeking behavior in which 149 participants drew information horizons maps in a health-related context. They also took health and information literacy assessments. This exact study was replicated using the same population in April 2020 to determine the differences in what the participants drew on their maps and how these changes interacted with their health and information literacy, their age and their education.

Findings

There is a statistically significant difference in the increased number of sources and the ranked quality of the sources that people used during the pandemic. Participants were much more likely to use credible sources and news sources, especially if they were older, more educated and had higher literacy levels – both health and information. They also relied heavily on social media. The participant group in the pandemic had a much heavier reliance on sources that are often used in a passive encountering way but engaging with them in an active information-seeking manner. The health information-seeking behavior in this study did not adhere to other research that found issue with information overload, avoidance and cyberchondria in response to crisis situations.

Originality/value

This article utilizes information horizons methodology to explore pre- and post-pandemic information-seeking. It is completely unique in this approach.

Assessing Public Interest Based on Wikipedia's Most Visited Medical Articles During the SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak: Search Trends Analysis

Background

In the current era of widespread access to the internet, we can monitor public interest in a topic via information-targeted web browsing. We sought to provide direct proof of the global population’s altered use of Wikipedia medical knowledge resulting from the new COVID-19 pandemic and related global restrictions.

Objective

We aimed to identify temporal search trends and quantify changes in access to Wikipedia Medicine Project articles that were related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

We performed a retrospective analysis of medical articles across nine language versions of Wikipedia and country-specific statistics for registered COVID-19 deaths. The observed patterns were compared to a forecast model of Wikipedia use, which was trained on data from 2015 to 2019. The model comprehensively analyzed specific articles and similarities between access count data from before (ie, several years prior) and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Wikipedia articles that were linked to those directly associated with the pandemic were evaluated in terms of degrees of separation and analyzed to identify similarities in access counts. We assessed the correlation between article access counts and the number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases and deaths to identify factors that drove interest in these articles and shifts in public interest during the subsequent phases of the pandemic.

Results

We observed a significant (P<.001) increase in the number of entries on Wikipedia medical articles during the pandemic period. The increased interest in COVID-19–related articles temporally correlated with the number of global COVID-19 deaths and consistently correlated with the number of region-specific COVID-19 deaths. Articles with low degrees of separation were significantly similar (P<.001) in terms of access patterns that were indicative of information-seeking patterns.

Conclusions

The analysis of Wikipedia medical article popularity could be a viable method for epidemiologic surveillance, as it provides important information about the reasons behind public attention and factors that sustain public interest in the long term. Moreover, Wikipedia users can potentially be directed to credible and valuable information sources that are linked with the most prominent articles.

Does the packaging of health information affect the assessment of its reliability? A randomized controlled trial protocol

Background Wikipedia is frequently used as a source of health information. However, the quality of its content varies widely across articles. The DISCERN tool is a brief questionnaire developed in 1996 by the Division of Public Health and Primary Health Care of the Institute of Health Sciences of the University of Oxford. They claim it provides users with a valid and reliable way of assessing the quality of written information. However, the DISCERN instrument’s reliability in measuring the quality of online health information, particularly whether or not its scores are affected by reader biases about specific publication sources, has not yet been explored. Methods This study is a double-blind randomized assessment of a Wikipedia article versus a BMJ literature review using a modified version of the DISCERN tool. Participants will include physicians and medical residents from four university campuses in Ontario and British Columbia and will be randomized into one of four study arms. Inferential statistics tests (paired t-test, multi-level ordinal regression, and one-way ANOVA) will be conducted with the data collected from the study. Outcomes The primary outcome of this study will be to determine whether a statistically significant difference in DISCERN scores exists, which could suggest whether or not how health information is packaged influences how it is assessed for quality. Plain Language Summary The internet, and in particular Wikipedia, is an important way for professionals, students and the public to obtain health information. For this reason, the DISCERN tool was developed in 1996 to help users assess the quality of the health information they find. The ability of DISCERN to measure the quality of online health information has been supported with research, but the role of bias has not necessarily been accounted for. Does how the information is packaged influence how the information itself is evaluated? This study will compare the scores assigned to articles in their original format to the same articles in a modified format in order to determine whether the DISCERN tool is able to overcome bias. A significant difference in ratings between original and inverted articles will suggest that the DISCERN tool lacks the ability to overcome bias related to how health information is packaged.

An Experimental Investigation into Promoting Mental Health Service Use on Social Media: Effects of Source and Comments

Mental health is an increasingly prevalent topic of public interest, but remains a complex area requiring focused research that must account for negative perceptions surrounding mental health issues. The current work explores the roles of social media information source credibility and valence of social media comments on health outcomes in such a mental health context. We used a 2 (message source: professional vs. layperson) × 3 (valence of comments: positive vs. negative vs. mixed) online experiment to examine the effects of source and valence of comments on trust, attitudes and intentions related to mental health information and services among 422 undergraduate students. Results supported the hypothesized model in which source influenced cognitive trust while comments influenced affective trust. Cognitive and affective trust both impacted attitudes towards mental health information which encourages the intention to share such information on social media. Additionally, affective trust impacted attitudes towards mental services which influenced intentions to seek them out. Source and valence of comments on social media impact different behavioral intentions regarding the use of mental health services. This study provides insights for future social media campaigns promoting mental health service use.

Developing an automated mechanism to identify medical articles from wikipedia for knowledge extraction

Wikipedia contains rich biomedical information that can support medical informatics studies and applications. Identifying the subset of medical articles of Wikipedia has many benefits, such as facilitating medical knowledge extraction, serving as a corpus for language modeling, or simply making the size of data easy to work with. However, due to the extremely low prevalence of medical articles in the entire Wikipedia, articles identified by generic text classifiers would be bloated by irrelevant pages. To control the false discovery rate while maintaining a high recall, we developed a mechanism that leverages the rich page elements and the connected nature of Wikipedia and uses a crawling classification strategy to achieve accurate classification. Structured assertional knowledge in Infoboxes and Wikidata items associated with the identified medical articles were also extracted. This automatic mechanism is aimed to run periodically to update the results and share them with the informatics community.

The Quality and Readability of English Wikipedia Anatomy Articles

Forty anatomy articles were sampled from English Wikipedia and assessed quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitatively, each article's edit history was analyzed by Wikipedia X-tools, references and media were counted manually, and two readability indices were used to evaluate article readability. This analysis revealed that each article was updated 8.3 ± 6.8 times per month, and referenced with 33.5 ± 24.3 sources, such as journal articles and textbooks. Each article contained on average 14.0 ± 7.6 media items. The readability indices including: (1) Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Test and (2) Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula demonstrated that the articles had low readability and were more appropriate for college students and above. Qualitatively, the sampled articles were evaluated by experts using a modified DISCERN survey. According to the modified DISCERN, 13 articles (32.5%), 24 articles (60%), 3 articles (7.5%), were rated as "good," "moderate," and "poor," respectively. There were positive correlations between the DISCERN score and the number of edits (r = 0.537), number of editors (r = 0.560), and article length (r = 0.536). Strengths reported by the panel included completeness and coverage in 11 articles (27.5%), anatomical details in 10 articles (25%), and clinical details in 5 articles (12.5%). The panel also noted areas which could be improved, such as providing missing information in 28 articles (70%), inaccuracies in 10 articles (25%), and lack or poor use of images in 17 articles (42.5%). In conclusion, this study revealed that many Wikipedia anatomy articles were difficult to read. Each article's quality was dependent on edit frequency and article length. Learners and students should be cautious when using Wikipedia articles for anatomy education due to these limitations.

Adding evidence of the effects of treatments into relevant Wikipedia pages: a randomised trial

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the effects of adding high-grade quantitative evidence of outcomes of treatments into relevant Wikipedia pages on further information-seeking behaviour by the use of routinely collected data.

SETTING

Wikipedia, Cochrane summary pages and the Cochrane Library.

DESIGN

Randomised trial.

PARTICIPANTS

Wikipedia pages which were highly relevant to up-to-date Cochrane Schizophrenia systematic reviews that contained a Summary of Findings table.

INTERVENTIONS

Eligible Wikipedia pages in the intervention group were seeded with tables of best evidence of the effects of care and hyperlinks to the source Cochrane review. Eligible Wikipedia pages in the control group were left unchanged.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Routinely collected data on access to the full text and summary web page (after 12 months).

RESULTS

We randomised 70 Wikipedia pages (100% follow-up). Six of the 35 Wikipedia pages in the intervention group had the tabular format deleted during the study but all pages continued to report the same data within the text. There was no evidence of effect on either of the coprimary outcomes: full-text access adjusted ratio of geometric means 1.30, 95% CI: 0.71 to 2.38; page views 1.14, 95% CI: 0.6 to 2.13. Results were similar for all other outcomes, with exception of Altmetric score for which there was some evidence of clear effect (1.36, 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.78).

CONCLUSIONS

The pursuit of fair balance within Wikipedia healthcare pages is impressive and its reach unsurpassed. For every person who sought and clicked the reference on the 'intervention' Wikipedia page to seek more information (the primary outcome), many more are likely to have been informed by the page alone. Enriching Wikipedia content is, potentially, a powerful way to improve health literacy and it is possible to test the effects of seeding pages with evidence. This trial should be replicated, expanded and developed.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

IRCT2017070330407N2.

Situating Wikipedia as a health information resource in various contexts: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Wikipedia's health content is the most frequently visited resource for health information on the internet. While the literature provides strong evidence for its high usage, a comprehensive literature review of Wikipedia's role within the health context has not yet been reported.

OBJECTIVE

To conduct a comprehensive review of peer-reviewed, published literature to learn what the existing body of literature says about Wikipedia as a health information resource and what publication trends exist, if any.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search in OVID Medline, OVID Embase, CINAHL, LISTA, Wilson's Web, AMED, and Web of Science was performed. Through a two-stage screening process, records were excluded if: Wikipedia was not a major or exclusive focus of the article; Wikipedia was not discussed within the context of a health or medical topic; the article was not available in English, the article was irretrievable, or; the article was a letter, commentary, editorial, or popular media article.

RESULTS

89 articles and conference proceedings were selected for inclusion in the review. Four categories of literature emerged: 1) studies that situate Wikipedia as a health information resource; 2) investigations into the quality of Wikipedia, 3) explorations of the utility of Wikipedia in education, and 4) studies that demonstrate the utility of Wikipedia in research.

CONCLUSION

The literature positions Wikipedia as a prominent health information resource in various contexts for the public, patients, students, and practitioners seeking health information online. Wikipedia's health content is accessed frequently, and its pages regularly rank highly in Google search results. While Wikipedia itself is well into its second decade, the academic discourse around Wikipedia within the context of health is still young and the academic literature is limited when attempts are made to understand Wikipedia as a health information resource. Possibilities for future research will be discussed.

You Get What You Pay for on Health Care Question and Answer Platforms: Nonparticipant Observational Study

Background

Seeking health information on the internet is very popular despite the debatable ability of lay users to evaluate the quality of health information and uneven quality of information available on the Web. Consulting the internet for health information is pervasive, particularly when other sources are inaccessible because of time, distance, and money constraints or when sensitive or embarrassing questions are to be explored. Question and answer (Q&A) platforms are Web-based services that provide personalized health advice upon the information seekers’ request. However, it is not clear how the quality of health advices is ensured on these platforms.

Objective

The objective of this study was to identify how platform design impacts the quality of Web-based health advices and equal access to health information on the internet.

Methods

A total of 900 Q&As were collected from 9 Q&A platforms with different design features. Data on the design features for each platform were generated. Paid physicians evaluated the data to quantify the quality of health advices. Guided by the literature, the design features that affected information quality were identified and recorded for each Q&A platform. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator and unbiased regression tree methods were used for the analysis.

Results

Q&A platform design and health advice quality were related. Expertise of information providers (beta=.48; P=.001), financial incentive (beta=.4; P=.001), external reputation (beta=.28; P=.002), and question quality (beta=.12; P=.001) best predicted health advice quality. Virtual incentive, Web 2.0 mechanisms, and reputation systems were not associated with health advice quality.

Conclusions

Access to high-quality health advices on the internet is unequal and skewed toward high-income and high-literacy groups. However, there are possibilities to generate high-quality health advices for free.

Indicator of quality for environmental articles on Wikipedia at the higher education level

Wikipedia is important in higher education because students and scholars often use it. Nevertheless, the issue of Wikipedia’s quality is an obstacle for its use at the higher education level. In order to contribute to this discussion, we have proposed ‘Verifiability by respected sources’ as an indicator for assessing the quality of Wikipedia articles at the higher education level and conducted an analysis of the most frequently visited articles in the category of Environment on Wikipedia. Results show that these articles contain many unreferenced statements, so their usage at the higher education level is problematic. Therefore, we also propose specific steps for relevant actors that could help to improve the quality of Wikipedia.

Mapping literacies: Comparing information horizons mapping to measures of information and health literacy

Purpose

Information literacy and health literacy skills are positively correlated with indicators of quality of life. Assessing these literacies, however, can be daunting – particularly with people that may not respond well to prose-based tools. The purpose of this paper is to use information horizons methodology as a metric that may be reflective of literacies.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a power analysis to insure statistical significance, a sample of 161 participants was recruited from a university population and given formal, vetted measures of information literacy and health literacy and then was asked to create an information horizons map within a health-related context. The information horizons maps were evaluated in two different ways. First, the number of sources was counted. Then, the quality of sources was factored in. Multiple regression analysis was applied to both metrics as independent variables with the other assessments as dependent variables. Anker, Reinhart, and Feeley’s model provided the conceptual framework for the study.

Findings

Information horizons mapping was not found to have a significant relationship with measures of information literacy. However, there were strong, statistically significant relationships with the measures of health literacy employed in this study.

Originality/value

Employing information horizons methodology as a means of providing a metric to assess literacies may be helpful in providing a more complete picture of a person’s abilities. While the current assessment tools have value, this method has the potential to provide important information about the health literacy of people who are not traditionally well represented by prose-based measures.

The Most Influential Medical Journals According to Wikipedia: Quantitative Analysis

Background

Wikipedia, the multilingual encyclopedia, was founded in 2001 and is the world’s largest and most visited online general reference website. It is widely used by health care professionals and students. The inclusion of journal articles in Wikipedia is of scholarly interest, but the time taken for a journal article to be included in Wikipedia, from the moment of its publication to its incorporation into Wikipedia, is unclear.

Objective

We aimed to determine the ranking of the most cited journals by their representation in the English-language medical pages of Wikipedia. In addition, we evaluated the number of days between publication of journal articles and their citation in Wikipedia medical pages, treating this measure as a proxy for the information-diffusion rate.

Methods

We retrieved the dates when articles were included in Wikipedia and the date of journal publication from Crossref by using an application programming interface.

Results

From 11,325 Wikipedia medical articles, we identified citations to 137,889 journal articles from over 15,000 journals. There was a large spike in the number of journal articles published in or after 2002 that were cited by Wikipedia. The higher the importance of a Wikipedia article, the higher was the mean number of journal citations it contained (top article, 48.13 [SD 33.67]; lowest article, 6.44 [SD 9.33]). However, the importance of the Wikipedia article did not affect the speed of reference addition. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was the most cited journal by Wikipedia, followed by The New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet. The multidisciplinary journals Nature, Science, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences were among the top 10 journals with the highest Wikipedia medical article citations. For the top biomedical journal papers cited in Wikipedia's medical pages in 2016-2017, it took about 90 days (3 months) for the citation to be used in Wikipedia.

Conclusions

We found evidence of “recentism,” which refers to preferential citation of recently published journal articles in Wikipedia. Traditional high-impact medical and multidisciplinary journals were extensively cited by Wikipedia, suggesting that Wikipedia medical articles have robust underpinnings. In keeping with the Wikipedia policy of citing reviews/secondary sources in preference to primary sources, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews was the most referenced journal.

Long-term effects of filmed social contact or internet-based self-study on mental health-related stigma: a 2-year follow-up of a randomised controlled trial

PURPOSE

There is a critical need to clarify the long-term effects of anti-stigma interventions. The study aimed to assess the long-term effects of repeated filmed social contact or internet-based self-study on mental health-related stigma through a randomised controlled trial with 2-year follow-up.

METHODS

We randomly allocated 259 university or college students to a filmed social contact group, an internet-based self-study group, or a control group. The filmed social contact and internet-based self-study groups each received a 30-min initial intervention followed by emailed interventions every 2 months over a 12-month period. The Japanese version of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale (RIBS-J) and the Mental Illness and Disorder Understanding Scale (MIDUS) were used to assess behaviour, behavioural intentions (attitudes), and knowledge regarding mental health.

RESULTS

Of the 259 original participants, 187 completed the 24-month follow-up assessment. Mean scores for the RIBS-J future domain and MIDUS peaked at 1 month after initial intervention. Compared with baseline, at 24-month follow-up, we found a significant difference in RIBS-J future domain scores between the filmed social contact and control groups at 24-month follow-up (B = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.01,1.90, p = 0.049), while MIDUS scores in the filmed social contact group (B = - 4.59, 95%CI = - 6.85, - 2.33, p < 0.001) and the internet-based self-study group (B = - 4.51, 95%CI = - 6.86, - 2.15, p < 0.001) significantly decreased compared with the control group.

CONCLUSION

While outcome scores peaked at 1 month after initial intervention, results suggest that filmed social contact might have a long-term effect on behavioural intentions, and both filmed social contact and internet-based self-study may contribute to improved knowledge of mental health.

A comparison of the content and primary literature support for online medication information provided by Lexicomp and Wikipedia

Objectives

The research compared the comprehensiveness and accuracy of two online resources that provide drug information: Lexicomp and Wikipedia.

Methods

Medication information on five commonly prescribed medications was identified and comparisons were made between resources and the relevant literature. An initial content comparison of the following three categories of medication information was performed: dose and instructions, uses, and adverse effects or warnings. The content comparison included sixteen points of comparison for each of the five investigated medications, totaling eighty content comparisons. For each of the medications, adverse reactions that appeared in only one of the resources were identified. When primary, peer-reviewed literature was not referenced supporting the discrepant adverse reactions, a literature search was performed to determine whether or not evidence existed to support the listed claims.

Results

Lexicomp consistently provided more medication information, with information provided in 95.0% (76/80) of the content, compared to Wikipedia's 42.5% (34/80). Lexicomp and Wikipedia had information present in 91.4% (32/35) and 20.0% (7/35) of dosing and instructions content, respectively. Adverse effects or warning content was provided in 97.5% (39/40) of Lexicomp content and 55.0% (22/40) of Wikipedia content. The "uses" category was present in both Lexicomp and Wikipedia for the 5 medications considered. Of adverse reactions listed solely in Lexicomp, 191/302 (63.2%) were supported by primary, peer-reviewed literature in contrast to 7/7 (100.0%) of adverse reactions listed only in Wikipedia. A review of US Food and Drug Administration Prescribing Information and the Adverse Event Reporting System dashboard found support for a respective 17/102 (16.7%) and 92/102 (90.2%) of Lexicomp's adverse reactions that were not supported in the literature.

Conclusion

Lexicomp is a comprehensive medication information tool that contains lists of adverse reactions that are not entirely supported by primary-peer reviewed literature.

A randomised controlled trial of repeated filmed social contact on reducing mental illness-related stigma in young adults

AIMS

Public stigma alters attitudes towards people with mental illness, and is a particular concern for young people since most mental health problems occur in adolescence and young adulthood. However, little is known about the long-term effects of repeated filmed social contact (FSC) on reducing mental health-related stigma among young adults in the general population, compared with self-instructional Internet search (INS) and control interventions.

METHODS

This study is a parallel-group randomised controlled trial over 12 months conducted in Tokyo, Japan. A total of 259 university students (male n = 150, mean age = 20.0 years, s.d. = 1.2) were recruited from 20 colleges and universities between November 2013 and July 2014, without being provided information about the mental health-related survey or trial. Participants were assigned to one of three groups before completion of the baseline survey (FSC/INS/control = 89/83/87). The FSC group received a computer-based 30-min social contact film with general mental health education and five follow-up web-based FSCs at 2-month intervals. The INS group undertook a 30-min search for mental health-related information with five follow-up web-based reminders for self-instructional searches at 2-month intervals. The control group played PC games and had no follow-up intervention. The main outcome measures were the future (intended behaviour) domain of the Reported and Intended Behaviour Scale at 12 months after the intervention. Analysis was conducted in September 2015.

RESULTS

At the 12-month follow-up, 218 participants completed the survey (84.1%, 75:70:73). The FSC group showed the greatest change at the 12-month follow-up (FSC: mean change 2.11 [95% CI 1.49, 2.73], INS: 1.04 [0.29, 1.80], control: 0.71 [0.09, 1.33]; FSC v. INS p = 0.037, FSC v. controls p = 0.004). No adverse events were reported during the follow-up period.

CONCLUSIONS

FSC was more successful in reducing stigma at 12 months after intervention than INS or control interventions. FSC could be used to reduce stigma in educational lectures and anti-stigma campaigns targeted at young people.

STUDY REGISTRATION

This study is registered at UMIN-CTR (No. UMIN000012239).

Evolution of Wikipedia's medical content: past, present and future

As one of the most commonly read online sources of medical information, Wikipedia is an influential public health platform. Its medical content, community, collaborations and challenges have been evolving since its creation in 2001, and engagement by the medical community is vital for ensuring its accuracy and completeness. Both the encyclopaedia’s internal metrics as well as external assessments of its quality indicate that its articles are highly variable, but improving. Although content can be edited by anyone, medical articles are primarily written by a core group of medical professionals. Diverse collaborative ventures have enhanced medical article quality and reach, and opportunities for partnerships are more available than ever. Nevertheless, Wikipedia’s medical content and community still face significant challenges, and a socioecological model is used to structure specific recommendations. We propose that the medical community should prioritise the accuracy of biomedical information in the world’s most consulted encyclopaedia.

Treatment choices for depression: Young people's response to a traditional e-health versus a Health 2.0 website

OBJECTIVE

This exploratory experimental study compared young people's credibility appraisals and behavioural intentions following exposure to depression treatment information on a Health 2.0 website versus a traditional website. The traditional website listed evidence-based treatment recommendations for depression as judged by field experts. The Health 2.0 website contained information about how helpful each treatment was, as aggregated from feedback from young people with lived experience of depression.

METHOD

Participants (n = 279) were provided with a vignette asking them to imagine that they had just received a diagnosis of depression and they had gone online to find information to guide their treatment choices. They were randomly allocated to view either the traditional or the Health 2.0 website, and were asked to rate the credibility of the depression treatment information provided. They were also asked to indicate the extent to which they would be likely to act on the advice of the website.

RESULTS

Participants in the traditional website condition rated their website as significantly more influential than did participants presented with the Health 2.0 website. This difference in treatment influence was fully accounted for the participants' perception of credibility of the information provided by the websites.

CONCLUSION

The traditional website was rated as significantly more credible and influential than the Health 2.0 website. Treatment decisions appeared to be based on the extent to which online information appears credible. In conclusion, health-related content was perceived by users as more credible when endorsed by experts than by other users, and perceived message credibility appears to be a powerful determinant of behavioural intentions within the e-health setting.

A qualitative study of online mental health information seeking behaviour by those with psychosis

BACKGROUND

The Internet and mobile technology are changing the way people learn about and manage their illnesses. Little is known about online mental health information seeking behaviour by people with psychosis. This paper explores the nature, extent and consequences of online mental health information seeking behaviour by people with psychosis and investigates the acceptability of a mobile mental health application (app).

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were carried out with people with psychosis (n = 22). Participants were purposively recruited through secondary care settings in London. The main topics discussed were participants' current and historical use of online mental health information and technology. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed by a team of researchers using thematic analysis.

RESULTS

Mental health related Internet use was widespread. Eighteen people described searching the Internet to help them make sense of their psychotic experiences, and to read more information about their diagnosis, their prescribed psychiatric medication and its side-effects. Whilst some participants sought 'expert' online information from mental health clinicians and research journals, others described actively seeking first person perspectives. Eight participants used this information collaboratively with clinicians and spoke of the empowerment and independence the Internet offered them. However nine participants did not discuss their use of online mental health information with their clinicians for a number of reasons, including fear of undermining their clinician's authority. For some of these people concerns over what they had read led them to discontinue their antipsychotic medication without discussion with their mental health team.

CONCLUSIONS

People with psychosis use the Internet to acquire mental health related information. This can be a helpful source of supplementary information particularly for those who use it collaboratively with clinicians. When this information is not shared with their mental health team, it can affect patients' health care decisions. A partnership approach to online health-information seeking is needed, with mental health clinicians encouraging patients to discuss information they have found online as part of a shared decision-making process. Our research suggests that those with psychosis have active digital lives and that the introduction of a mental health app into services would potentially be well received.

Development and usage of wiki-based software for point-of-care emergency medical information

Objective To describe the creation and evaluate the usage of the first medical wiki linked to dedicated mobile applications.

Methods With the support of multiple current and past contributors, we developed an emergency medicine wiki linked to offline mobile applications (WikEM) in 2009. First deployment was at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center emergency medicine residency program, with the wiki later opened to public use. To evaluate the project, we performed a post hoc analysis of system use and surveyed 8 years of current and past residents. Outcomes included website and application analytics, as well as survey analysis by composite response categories.

Results Over the 6-year period of this project, the wiki grew to over 7250 pages and 45 500 edits. The website receives more than 85 000 user sessions per month, with over 150 million page views to date. There have been over 200 000 installs of the mobile applications, progressing to produce over 5000 mobile sessions daily. Of potential survey respondents, 87.7% (107) completed the Internet-based survey. Among those who contributed to the wiki, 74.6% reported that it benefited their understanding of core emergency medicine content. Of program graduates, the vast majority reported use of the wiki as a resource after residency (93.8%) along with improvement in clinical efficiency (89.7%). Residents reported higher use and a more favorable opinion of wiki usefulness compared to graduates ( P &lt; .001).

Conclusions A wiki paired with mobile applications is beneficial for resident education and useful in post-residency clinical practice.

Medical students' attitudes and wishes towards extending an educational general practice app to be suitable for practice: A cross-sectional survey from Leipzig, Germany

BACKGROUND

In medical education and practice, smartphone apps are increasingly becoming popular. In general practice, apps could play an important future role in supporting medical education and practice.

OBJECTIVES

To explore medical students' perceptions regarding the potential of a general practice app for training and subsequent work as a physician.

METHODS

Cross-sectional survey among Leipzig fourth-year medical students who were provided with an app prototype for a mandatory general practice course.

RESULTS

Response rate was 99.3% (n = 305/307); 59.0% were female and mean age was 24.5 years. Students certified that the app had a higher potential than textbooks in both education (57.4% vs. 18.0%) and practice (47.1% vs. 22.8%). Students' most desired possible app extensions when anticipating its use for subsequent work as a physician were looking up information for diagnostics, therapy and prediction (85.1%), access to electronic patient files (48.1%), communication and networking (44.3%), organization of medical training (42.9%) and online monitoring of patients (38.1%). Students experienced with medical smartphone apps were more interested in app extensions. Consideration to use the app to support the opening of their own practice was significantly associated with higher interest in accessing electronic patient files, networking with colleagues and telemedicine.

CONCLUSION

Fourth year medical students from Leipzig see a high potential in smartphone apps for education and practice and are interested in further using the technology after undergraduate education.

Cross-cultural management and digital societies

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to see how digital societies’ studies can be inspired by cross-cultural management.

Design/methodology/approach

– Theory critical analysis and review.

Findings

– The paper reveals many similarities and analogies, allowing for useful connections between cross-cultural management research, and studying digital societies.

Originality/value

– By exposing methodological and theoretical links of cross-cultural management field in general, and Magala’s contribution in particular, the following paper helps in better understanding of contemporary research on digital societies, as well as allows for the use of already proven methodologies and approaches in the emerging field of the internet studies.

Social Media Use in Chronic Disease: A Systematic Review and Novel Taxonomy

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical outcomes from applications of contemporary social media in chronic disease; to develop a conceptual taxonomy to categorize, summarize, and then analyze the current evidence base; and to suggest a framework for future studies on this topic.

METHODS

We performed a systematic review of MEDLINE via PubMed (January 2000 to January 2015) of studies reporting clinical outcomes on leading contemporary social media (ie, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, YouTube) use in 10 chronic diseases. Two reviewers independently performed data extraction and quality assessment; characterization of study outcomes as positive, negative, neutral, or undefined impact; and inductive, thematic analysis to develop our taxonomy.

RESULTS

Of 378 citations identified, 42 studies examining the use of Facebook (n = 16), blogs (n = 13), Twitter (n = 8), wikis (n = 5), and YouTube (n = 4) on outcomes in cancer (n = 14), depression (n = 13), obesity (n = 9), diabetes (n = 4), heart disease (n = 3), stroke (n = 2), and chronic lower respiratory tract infection (n = 1) were included. Studies were classified as support (n = 16), patient education (n = 10), disease modification (n = 6), disease management (n = 5), and diagnosis (n = 5) within our taxonomy. The overall impact of social media on chronic disease was variable, with 48% of studies indicating benefit, 45% neutral or undefined, and 7% suggesting harm. Among studies that showed benefit, 85% used either Facebook or blogs, and 40% were based within the domain of support.

CONCLUSIONS

Using social media to provide social, emotional, or experiential support in chronic disease, especially with Facebook and blogs, appears most likely to improve patient care.

Debate: Can and should psychiatrists use online information?

When considering professional use of the internet, the focus tends to be on access to information. Yet the development of Web 2.0 and the growth of social media have transformed the internet from a largely read-only medium to one that facilitates interaction and user-created content. I will discuss some of the positive effects that online resources can have on professional practice, looking not just at access to information, but what we do with that information and how we interact online with fellow professionals and the public.

How People with Depression Receive and Perceive Mental Illness Information: Findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing

Despite the recognised importance of accurate mental illness information in help-seeking and improving recovery, little is known about the dissemination of such information to people with depression. With a view to informing effective communication to those most in need, we explored the extent to which mental illness information is received by people with depression, its perceived helpfulness and we characterise those who do not receive such information. Using data from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing we observed that mental illness information was received by 54.7 % of those with depression. Most (76.7 %) found it helpful. Pamphlets were the most frequently cited source of information. People who did not receive information were less educated, unlikely to have accessed mental health services and unlikely to believe they had mental health needs. Targeted information campaigns which shape perceptions of need in relation to depression have the potential to reduce the resultant disease burden.

Accuracy and readability of cardiovascular entries on Wikipedia: are they reliable learning resources for medical students?

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate accuracy of content and readability level of English Wikipedia articles on cardiovascular diseases, using quality and readability tools.

METHODS

Wikipedia was searched on the 6 October 2013 for articles on cardiovascular diseases. Using a modified DISCERN (DISCERN is an instrument widely used in assessing online resources), articles were independently scored by three assessors. The readability was calculated using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. The inter-rater agreement between evaluators was calculated using the Fleiss κ scale.

RESULTS

This study was based on 47 English Wikipedia entries on cardiovascular diseases. The DISCERN scores had a median=33 (IQR=6). Four articles (8.5%) were of good quality (DISCERN score 40-50), 39 (83%) moderate (DISCERN 30-39) and 4 (8.5%) were poor (DISCERN 10-29). Although the entries covered the aetiology and the clinical picture, there were deficiencies in the pathophysiology of diseases, signs and symptoms, diagnostic approaches and treatment. The number of references varied from 1 to 127 references; 25.9±29.4 (mean±SD). Several problems were identified in the list of references and citations made in the articles. The readability of articles was 14.3±1.7 (mean±SD); consistent with the readability level for college students. In comparison, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 18th edition had more tables, less references and no significant difference in number of graphs, images, illustrations or readability level. The overall agreement between the evaluators was good (Fleiss κ 0.718 (95% CI 0.57 to 0.83).

CONCLUSIONS

The Wikipedia entries are not aimed at a medical audience and should not be used as a substitute to recommended medical resources. Course designers and students should be aware that Wikipedia entries on cardiovascular diseases lack accuracy, predominantly due to errors of omission. Further improvement of the Wikipedia content of cardiovascular entries would be needed before they could be considered a supplementary resource.

E-mental health care among young adults and help-seeking behaviors: a transversal study in a community sample

Background

The Internet is widely used by young people and could serve to improve insufficient access to mental health care. Previous information on this topic comes from selected samples (students or self-selected individuals) and is incomplete.

Objective

In a community sample of young adults, we aimed to describe frequency of e-mental health care study-associated factors and to determine if e-mental health care was associated with the use of conventional services for mental health care.

Methods

Using data from the 2011 wave of the TEMPO cohort study of French young adults (N=1214, aged 18-37 years), we examined e-mental health care and associated factors following Andersen’s behavioral model: predisposing factors (age, sex, educational attainment, professional activity, living with a partner, children, childhood negative events, chronic somatic disease, parental history of depression), enabling factors (social support, financial difficulties, parents’ income), and needs-related factors (lifetime major depression or anxiety disorders, suicidal ideation, ADHD, cannabis use). We compared traditional service use (seeking help from a general practitioner, a psychiatrist, a psychologist; antidepressant or anxiolytics/hypnotics use) between participants who used e-mental health care versus those who did not.

Results

Overall, 8.65% (105/1214) of participants reported seeking e-mental health care in case of psychological difficulties in the preceding 12 months and 15.7% (104/664) reported psychological difficulties. Controlling for all covariates, the likelihood of e-mental health care was positively associated with 2 needs-related factors, lifetime major depression or anxiety disorder (OR 2.36, 95% CI 1.36-4.09) and lifetime suicidal ideation (OR 1.91, 95% CI 1.40-2.60), and negatively associated with a predisposing factor: childhood life events (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.38-0.93). E-mental health care did not hinder traditional care, but was associated with face-to-face psychotherapy (66.2%, 51/77 vs 52.4%, 186/355, P=.03).

Conclusions

E-mental health care represents an important form of help-seeking behavior for young adults. Professionals and policy makers should take note of this and aim to improve the quality of online information on mental health care and to use this fact in clinical care.

Is Wikipedia a reliable learning resource for medical students? Evaluating respiratory topics

The aim of the present study was to critically evaluate the accuracy and readability of English Wikipedia articles on the respiratory system and its disorders and whether they can be a suitable resource for medical students. On April 27, 2014, English Wikipedia was searched for articles on respiratory topics. Using a modified DISCERN instrument, articles were independently scored by three assessors. The scoring targeted content accuracy, frequency of updating, and quality of references. The readability of articles was measured using two other instruments. The mean DISCERN score for the 40 articles identified was 26.4±6.3. Most articles covered causes, signs and symptoms, prevention, and treatment. However, several knowledge deficiencies in the pathogenesis of diseases, investigations needed, and treatment were observed. The total number of references for the 40 articles was 1,654, and the references varied from 0 to 168 references, but several problems were identified in the list of references and citations made. The readability of articles was in the range of 9.4±1.8 to 22.6±10.7 using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level instrument and 10.0±2.6 to 19.6±8.3 using the Readability Coleman-Liau index. A strong correlation was found between the two instruments (r2=0.744, P<0.001). The agreement between the assessors had mean κ scores in the range of 0.712-0.857. In conclusion, despite the effort placed in creating Wikipedia respiratory articles by anonymous volunteers (wikipedians), most articles had knowledge deficiencies, were not accurate, and were not suitable for medical students as learning resources.

Mental health related Internet use among psychiatric patients: a cross-sectional analysis

BACKGROUND

The Internet is of great importance in today's health sector, as most Internet users utilize online functions for health related purposes. Concerning the mental health care sector, little data exist about the Internet use of psychiatric patients. It is the scope of this current study to analyze the quantity and pattern of Internet usage among mental health patients.

METHODS

Patients from all services of the Department of Psychiatry at a university hospital were surveyed by completing a 29-item questionnaire. The data analysis included evaluation of frequencies, as well as group comparisons.

RESULTS

337 patients participated in the survey, of whom 79.5% were Internet users. Social media was utilized by less than half of the users: social networks (47.8%), forums (19.4%), chats (18.7%), blogs (12.3%). 70.9% used the Internet for mental health related reasons. The contents accessed by the patients included: information on mental disorders (57.8%), information on medication (43.7%), search for mental health services (38.8%), platforms with other patients (19.8%) and platforms with mental health professionals (17.2%). Differences in the pattern of use between users with low, medium and high frequency of Internet use were statistically significant for all entities of social media (p < 0.01), search for mental health services (p = 0.017) and usage of platforms with mental health professionals (p = 0. 048). The analysis of differences in Internet use depending on the participants' type of mental disorder revealed no statistically significant differences, with one exception. Regarding the Internet's role in mental health care, the participants showed differing opinions: 36.2% believe that the Internet has or may have helped them in coping with their mental disorder, while 38.4% stated the contrary.

CONCLUSIONS

Most psychiatric patients are Internet users. Mental health related Internet use is common among patients, mainly for information seeking. The use of social media is generally less frequent. It varies significantly between different user types and was shown to be associated with high frequency of Internet use. The results illustrate the importance of the Internet in mental health related contexts and may contribute to the further development of mental health related online offers.