The Electronic MentalWellness Tool as a Self-Administered Brief Screening Instrument for Mental Disorders in the General Spanish Population during the Post-COVID-19 Era.
Loading...
Identifiers
Publication date
2023
Start date of the public exhibition period
End date of the public exhibition period
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Share
Abstract
In the “post-COVID-19 era”, there is a need to focus on properly assessing
and addressing the extent of its well-established mental health collateral damage. The “Electronic
Mental Wellness Tool” (E-mwTool) is a 13-item validated stepped-care or stratified management
instrument that aims at the high-sensitivity captures of individuals with mental health disorders
to determine the need for mental health care. This study validated the E-mwTool in a Spanishspeaking
population. (2) Methods: It is a cross-sectional validation study using the Mini International
Neuropsychiatric Interview as a criterion standard in a sample of 433 participants. (3) Results: About
72% of the sample had a psychiatric disorder, and 67% had a common mental disorder. Severe
mental disorders, alcohol use disorders, substance use disorders, and suicide risk had a much lower
prevalence rate (6.7%, 6.2%, 3.2%, and 6.2%, respectively). The first three items performed excellently
in identifying any mental health disorder with 0.97 sensitivity. Ten additional items classified
participants with common mental disorders, severe mental disorders, substance use disorders, and
suicide risk. (4) Conclusions: The E-mwTool had high sensitivity in identifying common mental
disorders, alcohol and substance use disorders, and suicidal risk. However, the tool’s sensitivity in
detecting low-prevalence disorders in the sample was low. This Spanish version may be useful to
detect patients at risk of mental health burden at the front line of primary and secondary care in
facilitating help-seeking and referral by their physicians.
Doctoral program
Description
Keywords
Diagnostic screening programs, Mental health, Primary health care, Secondary health care, Reproducibility of results, Mental disorders, EHealth, MHealth, Mobile app