Feeling
stressed? Depressed? Want to stop smoking? Need help with substance
abuse? Diet and Exercise? Insomnia? Diabetes? Chronic Pain?
These are just a
few of the many health-related topics addressed through online interventions.
Anonymity, convenience, and low cost have increased the popularity of these
programs in recent years. But how do you know they actually work?
That is the
central question addressed in an original
paper by Mary AM Rogers, MS, PhD, and colleagues at the University of
Michigan. The results of their study are published in a recent issue of
the Journal of Medical Internet Research. (Please see full
citation below.)
Through
comprehensive search, review and analysis of studies that tested the
effectiveness of programs in randomized clinical trials (the gold standard in
medical research), the Dr. Rogers and colleagues found a wide range of programs
for health-related behaviors and disease prevention and support. However,
the majority of programs were only available to clinical trial participants.
The article does
include a list of evidence-based programs that are available for
general use, many of which are free. The list is organized by category,
intended audience, name of program, live links to websites, cost and language.
Click on this link to
the article and scroll down to Table 3.
Dr. Rogers and
colleagues discuss the characteristics of successful programs, the need for
more work related to participants' readiness and factors that enable use. They
also caution that an overall benefit of a program demonstrated in clinical
trials is based on a group effect and the program will not necessarily benefit
every single person. They note that programs "do not guarantee a specific
result; they only promise a greater likelihood of a benefit if the therapy is
completed."
In their
conclusions, the authors underscore the need for organizations to host sites
for evidence-based programs and to inform the public of their availability and
where to find them online.
Their paper is
an excellent start.
Citation
Rogers MA, Lemmen K, Kramer
R, Mann J, Chopra V
Internet-Delivered
Health Interventions That Work: Systematic Review of Meta-Analyses and
Evaluation of Website Availability
J Med Internet Res
2017;19(3):e90
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