No Cover Image

Journal article 352 views 86 downloads

Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation

Duleeka Knipe, Santiago de Ossorno Garcia Orcid Logo, Louisa Salhi Orcid Logo, Nimrah Afzal, Samaryah Sammut, Lily Mainstone-Cotton, Aaron Sefi, Amanda Marchant Orcid Logo, Ann John Orcid Logo

PLOS ONE, Volume: 20, Issue: 2, Start page: e0316468

Swansea University Authors: Amanda Marchant Orcid Logo, Ann John Orcid Logo

  • 68694.VOR.pdf

    PDF | Version of Record

    © 2025 Knipe et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

    Download (824.28KB)

Check full text

DOI (Published version): 10.1371/journal.pone.0316468

Abstract

The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. The aim of this study was to assess whether service access and presenting concerns differed before and during the pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics (gen...

Full description

Published in: PLOS ONE
ISSN: 1932-6203
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa68694
first_indexed 2025-01-30T16:02:06Z
last_indexed 2025-02-27T05:33:42Z
id cronfa68694
recordtype SURis
fullrecord <?xml version="1.0"?><rfc1807><datestamp>2025-02-26T14:05:16.1070018</datestamp><bib-version>v2</bib-version><id>68694</id><entry>2025-01-15</entry><title>Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation</title><swanseaauthors><author><sid>0776f450dd575004ba7c69930c579cae</sid><ORCID>0000-0001-7013-6980</ORCID><firstname>Amanda</firstname><surname>Marchant</surname><name>Amanda Marchant</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author><author><sid>ed8a9c37bd7b7235b762d941ef18ee55</sid><ORCID>0000-0002-5657-6995</ORCID><firstname>Ann</firstname><surname>John</surname><name>Ann John</name><active>true</active><ethesisStudent>false</ethesisStudent></author></swanseaauthors><date>2025-01-15</date><deptcode>MEDS</deptcode><abstract>The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. The aim of this study was to assess whether service access and presenting concerns differed before and during the pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, and deprivation level) were examined to identify disparities in service use. To do this we utilised routinely collected service data from a text-based online mental health service for children and young people. A total of 61221 service users consented to sharing their data which represented half of the service population. We used interrupted time-series models to assess whether there was a change in the level and rate of service use during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020-April 2021) compared to pre-pandemic trends (June 2019-March 2020) and whether this varied by sociodemographic characteristics. The majority of users identified as female (74%) and White (80%), with an age range between 13 and 20 years of age. There was evidence of a sudden increase (13%) in service access at the start of the pandemic (RR 1.13 95% CI 1.02, 1.25), followed by a reduced rate (from 25% to 21%) of engagement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic trends (RR 0.97 95% CI 0.95,0.98). There was a sudden increase in almost all presenting issues apart from physical complaints. There was evidence of a step increase in the number of contacts for Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (38% increase; 95% CI: 1%-90%) and White ethnic groups (14% increase; 95% CI: 2%-27%), sudden increase in service use at the start of the pandemic for the most (58% increase; 95% CI: 1%-247%) and least (47% increase; 95% CI: 6%-204%) deprived areas. During the pandemic, contact rates decreased, and referral sources changed at the start. Findings on access and service activity align with other studies observing reduced service utilization. The lack of differences in deprivation levels and ethnicity at lockdown suggests exploring equity of access to the anonymous service. The study provides unique insights into changes in digital mental health use during Covid-19 in the UK.</abstract><type>Journal Article</type><journal>PLOS ONE</journal><volume>20</volume><journalNumber>2</journalNumber><paginationStart>e0316468</paginationStart><paginationEnd/><publisher>Public Library of Science (PLoS)</publisher><placeOfPublication/><isbnPrint/><isbnElectronic/><issnPrint/><issnElectronic>1932-6203</issnElectronic><keywords/><publishedDay>13</publishedDay><publishedMonth>2</publishedMonth><publishedYear>2025</publishedYear><publishedDate>2025-02-13</publishedDate><doi>10.1371/journal.pone.0316468</doi><url/><notes/><college>COLLEGE NANME</college><department>Medical School</department><CollegeCode>COLLEGE CODE</CollegeCode><DepartmentCode>MEDS</DepartmentCode><institution>Swansea University</institution><apcterm>Another institution paid the OA fee</apcterm><funders>This project was supported by the Adolescent Mental Health Data Platform (ADP) funded by the MQ Mental Health Research Charity (MQBF/3 ADP) and Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW; SCF-22-10) and by the MRC and HDRUK through DATAMIND (MR/W014386/1).</funders><projectreference/><lastEdited>2025-02-26T14:05:16.1070018</lastEdited><Created>2025-01-15T09:15:09.3347592</Created><path><level id="1">Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences</level><level id="2">Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science</level></path><authors><author><firstname>Duleeka</firstname><surname>Knipe</surname><order>1</order></author><author><firstname>Santiago de Ossorno</firstname><surname>Garcia</surname><orcid>0000-0001-6660-2109</orcid><order>2</order></author><author><firstname>Louisa</firstname><surname>Salhi</surname><orcid>0000-0001-6458-1391</orcid><order>3</order></author><author><firstname>Nimrah</firstname><surname>Afzal</surname><order>4</order></author><author><firstname>Samaryah</firstname><surname>Sammut</surname><order>5</order></author><author><firstname>Lily</firstname><surname>Mainstone-Cotton</surname><order>6</order></author><author><firstname>Aaron</firstname><surname>Sefi</surname><order>7</order></author><author><firstname>Amanda</firstname><surname>Marchant</surname><orcid>0000-0001-7013-6980</orcid><order>8</order></author><author><firstname>Ann</firstname><surname>John</surname><orcid>0000-0002-5657-6995</orcid><order>9</order></author></authors><documents><document><filename>68694__33684__b905770a96de483fa5f934ad331739e7.pdf</filename><originalFilename>68694.VOR.pdf</originalFilename><uploaded>2025-02-26T13:57:35.9274449</uploaded><type>Output</type><contentLength>844058</contentLength><contentType>application/pdf</contentType><version>Version of Record</version><cronfaStatus>true</cronfaStatus><documentNotes>&#xA9; 2025 Knipe et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).</documentNotes><copyrightCorrect>true</copyrightCorrect><language>eng</language><licence>http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</licence></document></documents><OutputDurs/></rfc1807>
spelling 2025-02-26T14:05:16.1070018 v2 68694 2025-01-15 Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation 0776f450dd575004ba7c69930c579cae 0000-0001-7013-6980 Amanda Marchant Amanda Marchant true false ed8a9c37bd7b7235b762d941ef18ee55 0000-0002-5657-6995 Ann John Ann John true false 2025-01-15 MEDS The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. The aim of this study was to assess whether service access and presenting concerns differed before and during the pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, and deprivation level) were examined to identify disparities in service use. To do this we utilised routinely collected service data from a text-based online mental health service for children and young people. A total of 61221 service users consented to sharing their data which represented half of the service population. We used interrupted time-series models to assess whether there was a change in the level and rate of service use during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020-April 2021) compared to pre-pandemic trends (June 2019-March 2020) and whether this varied by sociodemographic characteristics. The majority of users identified as female (74%) and White (80%), with an age range between 13 and 20 years of age. There was evidence of a sudden increase (13%) in service access at the start of the pandemic (RR 1.13 95% CI 1.02, 1.25), followed by a reduced rate (from 25% to 21%) of engagement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic trends (RR 0.97 95% CI 0.95,0.98). There was a sudden increase in almost all presenting issues apart from physical complaints. There was evidence of a step increase in the number of contacts for Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (38% increase; 95% CI: 1%-90%) and White ethnic groups (14% increase; 95% CI: 2%-27%), sudden increase in service use at the start of the pandemic for the most (58% increase; 95% CI: 1%-247%) and least (47% increase; 95% CI: 6%-204%) deprived areas. During the pandemic, contact rates decreased, and referral sources changed at the start. Findings on access and service activity align with other studies observing reduced service utilization. The lack of differences in deprivation levels and ethnicity at lockdown suggests exploring equity of access to the anonymous service. The study provides unique insights into changes in digital mental health use during Covid-19 in the UK. Journal Article PLOS ONE 20 2 e0316468 Public Library of Science (PLoS) 1932-6203 13 2 2025 2025-02-13 10.1371/journal.pone.0316468 COLLEGE NANME Medical School COLLEGE CODE MEDS Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee This project was supported by the Adolescent Mental Health Data Platform (ADP) funded by the MQ Mental Health Research Charity (MQBF/3 ADP) and Health and Care Research Wales (HCRW; SCF-22-10) and by the MRC and HDRUK through DATAMIND (MR/W014386/1). 2025-02-26T14:05:16.1070018 2025-01-15T09:15:09.3347592 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science Duleeka Knipe 1 Santiago de Ossorno Garcia 0000-0001-6660-2109 2 Louisa Salhi 0000-0001-6458-1391 3 Nimrah Afzal 4 Samaryah Sammut 5 Lily Mainstone-Cotton 6 Aaron Sefi 7 Amanda Marchant 0000-0001-7013-6980 8 Ann John 0000-0002-5657-6995 9 68694__33684__b905770a96de483fa5f934ad331739e7.pdf 68694.VOR.pdf 2025-02-26T13:57:35.9274449 Output 844058 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 Knipe et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
spellingShingle Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
Amanda Marchant
Ann John
title_short Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
title_full Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
title_fullStr Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
title_full_unstemmed Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
title_sort Digital mental health service engagement changes during Covid-19 in children and young people across the UK: Presenting concerns, service activity, and access by gender, ethnicity, and deprivation
author_id_str_mv 0776f450dd575004ba7c69930c579cae
ed8a9c37bd7b7235b762d941ef18ee55
author_id_fullname_str_mv 0776f450dd575004ba7c69930c579cae_***_Amanda Marchant
ed8a9c37bd7b7235b762d941ef18ee55_***_Ann John
author Amanda Marchant
Ann John
author2 Duleeka Knipe
Santiago de Ossorno Garcia
Louisa Salhi
Nimrah Afzal
Samaryah Sammut
Lily Mainstone-Cotton
Aaron Sefi
Amanda Marchant
Ann John
format Journal article
container_title PLOS ONE
container_volume 20
container_issue 2
container_start_page e0316468
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1932-6203
doi_str_mv 10.1371/journal.pone.0316468
publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Swansea University Medical School - Health Data Science
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description The adoption of digital health technologies accelerated during Covid-19, with concerns over the equity of access due to digital exclusion. The aim of this study was to assess whether service access and presenting concerns differed before and during the pandemic. Sociodemographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, and deprivation level) were examined to identify disparities in service use. To do this we utilised routinely collected service data from a text-based online mental health service for children and young people. A total of 61221 service users consented to sharing their data which represented half of the service population. We used interrupted time-series models to assess whether there was a change in the level and rate of service use during the Covid-19 pandemic (April 2020-April 2021) compared to pre-pandemic trends (June 2019-March 2020) and whether this varied by sociodemographic characteristics. The majority of users identified as female (74%) and White (80%), with an age range between 13 and 20 years of age. There was evidence of a sudden increase (13%) in service access at the start of the pandemic (RR 1.13 95% CI 1.02, 1.25), followed by a reduced rate (from 25% to 21%) of engagement during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic trends (RR 0.97 95% CI 0.95,0.98). There was a sudden increase in almost all presenting issues apart from physical complaints. There was evidence of a step increase in the number of contacts for Black/African/Caribbean/Black British (38% increase; 95% CI: 1%-90%) and White ethnic groups (14% increase; 95% CI: 2%-27%), sudden increase in service use at the start of the pandemic for the most (58% increase; 95% CI: 1%-247%) and least (47% increase; 95% CI: 6%-204%) deprived areas. During the pandemic, contact rates decreased, and referral sources changed at the start. Findings on access and service activity align with other studies observing reduced service utilization. The lack of differences in deprivation levels and ethnicity at lockdown suggests exploring equity of access to the anonymous service. The study provides unique insights into changes in digital mental health use during Covid-19 in the UK.
published_date 2025-02-13T17:46:59Z
_version_ 1850691361918943232
score 11.08899

Similar Items