Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35142638›Full record

ArticleJMIR formative research2022

A Web-Based App for Emotional Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Platform Development and Retrospective Analysis of its Use Throughout Two Waves of the Outbreak in Spain.

Sara Guila Fidel Kinori, Gerard Carot-Sans, Andrés Cuartero, Damià Valero-Bover, Rosa Roma Monfa, Elisabet Garcia, Pol Pérez Sust, Jordi Blanch, Jordi Piera-Jiménez, Josep Antoni Ramos-Quiroga

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR formative research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed
2.3field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Sara Guila Fidel KinoriDepartment of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7865-6059
Gerard Carot-SansInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5982-7975
Andrés CuarteroSistema d'Emergències Mèdiques, Sistema de Salut de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8182-1884
Damià Valero-BoverInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0533-1568
Rosa Roma MonfaInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3482-4265
Elisabet GarciaInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7326-8989
Pol Pérez SustInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2073-0951
Jordi BlanchInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2597-8454
Jordi Piera-JiménezInformation Systems Directorate, Servei Català de la Salut, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6471-9979
Josep Antoni Ramos-QuirogaDepartment of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1622-0350
Servei de Salut de les Illes Balears · ESInstitut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge · ESUniversitat Autònoma de Barcelona · ESUniversitat Oberta de Catalunya · ES

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundQuarantines and nationwide lockdowns implemented for containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to distress and increase the frequency of anxiety and depression symptoms among the general population. During the nationwide lockdown of the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain, we developed and launched a web-based app to promote emotional self-care in the general population and facilitate contact with health care professionals.

objectiveThis study aimed to describe a web-based app and analyze its utilization pattern throughout 2 successive waves of the COVID-19 outbreak in Spain.

methodsOur web-based app targeted all individuals aged 18 years or more and was designed by adapting the contents of a mobile app for adjuvant treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (ie, the PTSD Coach app) to the general population and the pandemic or lockdown scenario. We retrospectively assessed the utilization pattern of the web-based app using data systematically retrieved from Google Analytics. Data were grouped into 3 time periods, defined using Joinpoint regression analysis of COVID-19 incidence in our area: first wave, between-wave period, and second wave.

resultsThe resulting web-based app, named gesioemocional.cat, maintains the navigation structure of the PTSD Coach app, with three main modules: tools for emotional self-care, a self-assessment test, and professional resources for on-demand contact. The self-assessment test combines the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale and offers professional contact in the advent of a high level of depression and anxiety; contact is prioritized in accordance with a screening questionnaire administered at the time of obtaining individual consent to be contacted. The tools for emotional self-care can be accessed either on-demand or symptom-driven. The utilization analysis showed a high number of weekly accesses during the first wave. In this period, press releases regarding critical events of the pandemic progression and government decisions on containment measures were followed by a utilization peak, irrespective of the sense (ie, positive or negative) of the information. Positive information pieces (eg, relaxation of containment measures due to a reduction of COVID-19 cases) resulted in a sharp increase in utilization immediately after information release, followed by a successive decline in utilization. The second wave was characterized by a lower and less responsive utilization of the web-based app.

conclusionsmHealth tools may help the general population cope with stressful conditions associated with the pandemic scenario. Future studies shall investigate the effectiveness of these tools among the general population-including individuals without diagnosed mental illnesses-and strategies to reach as many people as possible.

Indexed as

anxietyappCOVID-19developmentemotionemotional managementlockdownplatformposttraumatic stress disorderPTSDquarantineretrospectiveusageutilizationweb-based app

Identifiers

PMID35142638
PMCPMC9015758
OpenAlexW4211023656

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.