Online information seeking by patients with bipolar disorder: results from an international multisite survey

Conell, Jörn; Bauer, Rita; Glenn, Tasha; Alda, Martin; Ardau, Raffaella; Baune, Bernhard T.; Berk, Michael; Bersudsky, Yuly; Bilderbeck, Amy; Bocchetta, Alberto; Bossini, Letizia; Paredes Castro, Angela Marianne; Cheung, Eric Yat Wo; Chillotti, Caterina; Choppin, Sabine; Del Zompo, Maria; Dias, Rodrigo; Dodd, Seetal; Duffy, Anne; Etain, Bruno; Fagiolini, Andrea; Garnham, Julie; Geddes, John; Gildebro, Jonas; Gonzalez-Pinto, Ana; Goodwin, Guy M.; Grof, Paul; Harima, Hirohiko; Hassel, Stefanie; Henry, Chantal; Hidalgo-Mazzei, Diego; Kapur, Vaisnvy; Kunigiri, Girish; Lafer, Beny; Lam, Chun; Larsen, Erik Roj; Lewitzka, Ute; Licht, Rasmus; Lund, Anne Hvenegaard; Misiak, Blazej; Piotrowski, Patryk; Monteith, Scott; Munoz, Rodrigo; Nakanotani, Takako; Nielsen, René E.; O’Donovan, Claire; Okamura, Yasushi; Osher, Yamima; Reif, Andreas; Ritter, Philipp; Rybakowski, Janusz K.; Sagduyu, Kemal; Sawchuk, Brett; Schwartz, Elon; Scippa, Ângela Miranda; Slaney, Claire; Sulaiman, Ahmad Hatim; Suominen, Kirsi; Suwalska, Aleksandra; Tam, Peter; Tatebayashi, Yoshitaka; Tondo, Leonardo; Vieta, Eduard; Vinberg, Maj; Viswanath, Biju; Volkert, Julia; Zetin, Mark; Zorrilla, Iñaki; Whybrow, Peter C.; Bauer, Michael

doi:10.1186/s40345-016-0058-0

International Journal of Bipolar Disorders

Table 2 Summary of responses from the patients who used the Internet to find information on bipolar disorder (N = 750)

From: Online information seeking by patients with bipolar disorder: results from an international multisite survey

Question number	Question^a	Valid responses N	Variable	Mean percent^b (%)	SD^c
21^d	How do you access the Internet?	607	From a computer	89	0.1221
21^d	How do you access the Internet?	607	From a smartphone or tablet	11	0.1221
22	How do you rate your Internet search skills?	746	Basic or intermediate	69	0.1288
22	How do you rate your Internet search skills?	746	Expert	31	0.1288
23	How do you start looking for information about bipolar disorder?	623	General search engine	79	0.0816
		623	Medical search engine	6	0.0478
		623	Specific site on mental illness	10	0.0640
		623	Other	6	0.0475
24	Do you find what you are looking for?	733	Always	16	0.1094
		733	Most of the time	57	0.1277
		733	About half the time	19	0.0847
		733	Less than half the time	8	0.0865
		733	Never	0.3	0.0073
25	Do you look for these topics relating to bipolar disorder?^e	742	Prescription drug information	73	0.1363
		742	Symptoms	83	0.1173
		742	General course of illness	58	0.1268
		742	Coping strategies	52	0.1774
26	Do you look for these topics relating to getting treatment for bipolar disorder?^e	542	Clinic hours, location and directions	52	0.2079
		542	Physician or therapist credentials	31	0.1633
		542	Physician or therapist ratings	24	0.1711
27	How frequently do you search for information about bipolar disorder?^e	738	Monthly or more	38	0.1620
27		738	Couple of times a year	62	0.1620
28	Why do you search for information about bipolar disorder on the Internet?^e	735	To learn anonymously	43	0.1600
		735	Side effects from prescription drugs	51	0.1184
		735	Need help coping with the illness	39	0.1706
29	What are your favorite sources of information about bipolar disorder?^e	727	Specific sites on mental health or bipolar disorder	59	0.1744
		727	Online encyclopedia such as Wikipedia	33	0.0843
		727	Government sponsored sites	21	0.2168
30	Do you discuss online information about bipolar disorder with your doctor?	737	Sometimes or frequently	33	0.1178
30		737	Rarely	67	0.1178
31	Does the online information help you cope with bipolar disorder?	733	Sometimes for frequently	67	0.1477
31		733	Rarely	33	0.1477
32	Do you attempt to verify online information?	735	Yes	66	0.1158
33	How do you attempt to verify online information?^e,f	428	Discuss with doctor	62	0.1633
		428	Discuss with family and friends	37	0.1536
		428	Compare information on multiple sites	56	0.1620
34	How concerned are you about privacy and confidentiality?	723	Moderately or very concerned	32	0.1788
34	How concerned are you about privacy and confidentiality?	723	Slightly concerned	68	0.1788
35	Do you participate in patient support groups?	746	Yes	20	0.0883

^aSee survey for details and exact wording
^bOverall mean of country means
^cStandard deviation of country means
^dSurvey questions 1–16 on demographics; questions 17-20 analyzed previously (Bauer et al. 2016)
^eMore than one response allowed
^fOnly completed by those who attempt to verify information (N = 485)

Back to article page