International multi-site survey on the use of online support groups in bipolar disorder

Bauer R 1 , Conell J 1 , Glenn T 2 , Alda M 3 , Ardau R 4 , Baune BT 5 Show all authors , Berk M 6 , Bersudsky Y 7 , Bilderbeck A 8 , Bocchetta A 9 , Bossini L 10 , Castro AMP 6 , Cheung EYW 11 , Chillotti C 4 , Choppin S 12 , Zompo MD 9 , Dias R 13 , Dodd S 6 , Duffy A 14 , Etain B 15 , Fagiolini A 10 , Hernandez MF 16 , Garnham J 3 , Geddes J 8 , Gildebro J 17 , Gonzalez-Pinto A 16 , Goodwin GM 8 , Grof P 18 , Harima H 19 , Hassel S 20 , Henry C 15 , Hidalgo-Mazzei D 21 , Kapur V 22 , Kunigiri G 23 , Lafer B 13 , Larsen ER 17 , Lewitzka U 1 , Licht RW 24 , Hvenegaard Lund A 17 , Misiak B 25 , Piotrowski P 25 , Monteith S 26 , Munoz R 27 , Nakanotani T 28 , Nielsen RE 24 , O'donovan C 3 , Okamura Y 19 , Osher Y 7 , Reif A 29 , Ritter P 1 , Rybakowski JK 30 , Sagduyu K 31 , Sawchuk B 14 , Schwartz E 32 , Scippa ÂM 33 , Slaney C 3 , Sulaiman AH 34 , Suominen K 35 , Suwalska A 30 , Tam P 36 , Tatebayashi Y 28 , Tondo L 37 , Vieta E 21 , Vinberg M 38 , Viswanath B 39 , Volkert J 29 , Zetin M 40 , Whybrow PC 41 , Bauer M 1

Affiliations 

  • 1 a Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy , Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden , Germany
  • 2 c ChronoRecord Association , Fullerton , CA , USA
  • 3 d Department of Psychiatry , Dalhousie University , Halifax , Nova Scotia , Canada
  • 4 e Unit of Clinical Pharmacology , University Hospital of Cagliari , Cagliari , Italy
  • 5 f Discipline of Psychiatry, School of Medicine , University of Adelaide , Adelaide , SA , Australia
  • 6 g IMPACT Strategic Research Centre, School of Medicine , Deakin University , Geelong , VIC , Australia
  • 7 l Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Health Sciences , Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva Mental Health Center , Beer Sheva , Israel
  • 8 m Department of Psychiatry , University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital , Oxford , UK
  • 9 n Section of Neurosciences and Clinical Pharmacology, Department of Biomedical Sciences , University of Cagliari , Sardinia , Italy
  • 10 o Department of Molecular Medicine and Department of Mental Health (DAI) , University of Siena and University of Siena Medical Center (AOUS) , Siena , Italy
  • 11 p Department of General Adult Psychiatry , Castle Peak Hospital , Hong Kong , PR China
  • 12 q AP-HP , Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri-Mondor , Créteil , France
  • 13 r Bipolar Disorder Research Program, Department of Psychiatry , University of São Paulo Medical School , São Paulo , Brazil
  • 14 s Department of Psychiatry , University of Calgary , Calgary , Canada
  • 15 t AP-HP , Hôpitaux Universitaires Henri-Mondor, INSERM U955 (IMRB), Université Paris Est , Créteil , France
  • 16 u Department of Psychiatry , University Hospital of Alava, University of the Basque Country, CIBERSAM , Vitoria , Spain
  • 17 v Department of Affective Disorders, Q, Mood Disorders Research Unit , Aarhus University Hospital , Aarhus , Denmark
  • 18 w Mood Disorders Center of Ottawa , Ottawa , Canada
  • 19 y Department of Psychiatry , Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Hospital , Tokyo , Japan
  • 20 z Department of Psychology & Aston Brain Centre , Aston University , Birmingham , UK
  • 21 ab Bipolar Disorders Program , Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, IDIBAPS, CIBERSAM , Barcelona , Catalonia , Spain
  • 22 ac Department of Clinical Psychology , NIMHANS , Bangalore , India
  • 23 ad Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust , Leicester , UK
  • 24 ae Psychiatry , Aalborg University Hospital , Aalborg , Denmark
  • 25 ag Department of Psychiatry , Wroclaw Medical University , Wroclaw , Poland
  • 26 ah Michigan State University College of Human Medicine , Traverse City Campus , Traverse City , MI , USA
  • 27 ai Department of Psychiatry , University of California San Diego , San Diego , CA , USA
  • 28 aj Affective Disorders Research Project , Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science , Tokyo , Japan
  • 29 ak Department of Psychiatry, Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy , University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe-University , Frankfurt am Main , Germany
  • 30 al Department of Adult Psychiatry , Poznan University of Medical Sciences , Poznan , Poland
  • 31 am Department of Psychiatry , University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine , Kansas City , MO , USA
  • 32 an Croton on Hudson , NY , USA
  • 33 ao Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health , Federal University of Bahia , Salvador , Brazil
  • 34 ap Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medicine , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia
  • 35 aq Department of Social Services and Health Care, Psychiatry , City of Helsinki , Helsinki , Finland
  • 36 ar Department of Psychiatry, Department of Medicine , University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong, PR China
  • 37 as Harvard Medical School-McLean Hospital , Boston , MA , USA
  • 38 au Psychiatric Center Copenhagen , Copenhagen , Denmark
  • 39 av Department of Psychiatry , NIMHANS , Bangalore , India
  • 40 aw Department of Psychology , Chapman University , Orange , CA , USA
  • 41 ax Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences , Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) , Los Angeles , CA , USA
Nord J Psychiatry, 2017 Aug;71(6):473-476.
PMID: 28696841 DOI: 10.1080/08039488.2017.1334819

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Peer support is an established component of recovery from bipolar disorder, and online support groups may offer opportunities to expand the use of peer support at the patient's convenience. Prior research in bipolar disorder has reported value from online support groups.

AIMS: To understand the use of online support groups by patients with bipolar disorder as part of a larger project about information seeking.

METHODS: The results are based on a one-time, paper-based anonymous survey about information seeking by patients with bipolar disorder, which was translated into 12 languages. The survey was completed between March 2014 and January 2016 and included questions on the use of online support groups. All patients were diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Analysis included descriptive statistics and general estimating equations to account for correlated data.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The survey was completed by 1222 patients in 17 countries. The patients used the Internet at a percentage similar to the general public. Of the Internet users who looked online for information about bipolar disorder, only 21.0% read or participated in support groups, chats, or forums for bipolar disorder (12.8% of the total sample). Given the benefits reported in prior research, clarification of the role of online support groups in bipolar disorder is needed. With only a minority of patients using online support groups, there are analytical challenges for future studies.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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