e-Mental health in South Australia: impact of age, gender and region of residence
Miriam C. Keane A B C , Leigh S. Roeger A , Stephen Allison A and Richard L. Reed AA Discipline of General Practice, Flinders University, Health Sciences Building, Level 3, Registry Road, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia.
B Present address: Department of Ophthalmology, Flinders University, University Drive, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: miriam.keane@flinders.edu.au
Australian Journal of Primary Health 19(4) 331-335 https://doi.org/10.1071/PY13027
Submitted: 28 February 2013 Accepted: 4 July 2013 Published: 15 August 2013
Abstract
Respondents to the 2008 South Australian Health Omnibus survey (n = 2996) indicated whether, in the previous 12 months, they had searched for information on the Internet relating to emotional issues such as depression, anxiety or relationship problems. Logistic regression was used to examine the penetration of e-mental health in rural and metropolitan areas (region of residence), and determine if other demographic variables (age group, gender) also impacted on the likelihood of an individual reporting that they had used the Internet to obtain such information. Overall, 9% of respondents reported that they had used the Internet for this purpose. The multivariate model was significant, F(11, 2985) = 4.82, P < 0.0001, with middle-aged rural females most likely to report doing so (18.1%), whereas older rural males were least likely to report doing so (2.2.%). These findings have important implications for the design of e-mental health promotional programs that provide information and interventions to improve mental health.
Additional keywords: health equality, Internet, rural health, service provision.
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