ArticleBMJ open2021
Web-based internet searches for digital health products in the United Kingdom before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a time-series analysis using app libraries from the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA).
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- System Usability Scale Benchmarking for Digital Health Apps: Meta-analysis.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2022Pooled it
- The effectiveness of digital health technologies for patients with diabetes mellitus: A systematic review.Frontiers in clinical diabetes and healthcare · 2022Pooled it
- Don't judge a book or health app by its cover: User ratings and downloads are not linked to quality.PloS one · 2024Article
- Quality of Digital Health Interventions Across Different Health Care Domains: Secondary Data Analysis Study.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2023Article
- Relationship between People's Interest in Medication Adherence, Health Literacy, and Self-Care: An Infodemiological Analysis in the Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Era.Journal of personalized medicine · 2023Article
- An investigation of the use of app technology to support clinical management of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).Journal of oncology pharmacy practice : official publication of the International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners · 2023Article
- An age-old problem or an old-age problem? A UK survey of attitudes, historical use and recommendations by healthcare professionals to use healthcare apps.BMC geriatrics · 2023Article
- The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Digital Health-Seeking Behavior: Big Data Interrupted Time-Series Analysis of Google Trends.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Article
- Development and Exploration of the Effectiveness and Feasibility of a Digital Intervention for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (DEsireD): Protocol for a Clinical Nonrandomized Pilot Trial in Brunei Darussalam.JMIR research protocols · 2022Article
- Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo explore if consumer interest in digital health products (DHPs), changed following the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown measures that ensued.
designRetrospective time-series analysis of web-based internet searches for DHPs in the UK, split over two periods, pre-COVID-19 lockdown (January 2019-23 March 2020) and post-COVID-19 lockdown (24 March 2020-31 December 2020).
settingThe UK.
participantsMembers of the UK general population using health-app libraries provided by the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was volume of searches for DHPs. Secondary outcomes considered search volumes for 25 different therapeutic areas. Outcomes were assessed for significance using a two-stage Poisson test.
resultsThere were 126 640 searches for DHPs over the study period. Searches for DHPs increased by 343% from 2446 per month prior to COVID-19 lockdown measures being introduced to 8996 per month in the period following the first COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. In total, 23/25 (92%) of condition areas experienced a significant increase in searches for DHPs, with the greatest increases occurring in the first 2 months following lockdown. Musculoskeletal conditions (2.036%), allergy (1.253%) and healthy living DHPs (1.051%) experienced the greatest increases in searches compared with pre-lockdown. Increased search volumes for DHPs were sustained in the 9 months following the introduction of lockdown measures, with 21/25 (84%) of condition areas experiencing monthly search volumes at least 50% greater than pre-lockdown levels.
conclusionsThe COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly disrupted the routine delivery of healthcare, making face-to-face interaction difficult, and contributing to unmet clinical needs. This study has demonstrated significant increases in internet searches for DHPs by members of the UK population since COVID-19, signifying an increased interest in this potential therapeutic medium. Future research should clarify whether this increased interest has resulted in increased acceptance and utilisation of these technologies also.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.