Usefulness of a Mobile Application (Mentali) for Anxiety and Depression Screening in Medical Students and Description of the Associated Triggering Factors

Abstract

The impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on the mental health of the population requires the implementation of new primary screening strategies of mental health disorders to intervene in a timelier manner, and technology may provide solutions. We aimed to evaluate the usefulness of the mobile app Mentali (version 1.1.2; creators: Jorge Alfonso Solís Galván Sodel Vázquez Reyes, Margarita de la Luz Martínez Fierro, Perla Velasco Elizondo, Idalia Garza Veloz, Alejandro Mauricio González and Claudia Caldera Villalobos, Zacatecas, México) as a primary screening tool for anxiety and depression disorders in medical students and to assess the triggering risk factors. This was a descriptive and longitudinal study and included 155 Mexican medical students. Participants interacted with Mentali for 6 months. The mobile app integrated the Beck anxiety and depression inventories together with a mood module. At the end of the interaction, the students received psychological and psychiatric interventions to confirm their primary diagnoses. Symptoms of moderate/severe anxiety and depression were present in 62.6% and 54.6% of the studied population. When corroborating the diagnoses, Mentali obtained a sensitivity of 100%, 95%, and 43% to classify a mental health disorder, anxiety, and depression, respectively. The most important triggers found were as follows: belonging to a dysfunctional family, being introverted, and having suffered from bullying. The proportion of users with excellent/good mood decreased from 78.7% to 34.4% at the end of the semester, and the proportion of users who claimed to have bad/very bad mood increased from 7.4% to 34.4% at the end of the semester (p < 0.05). Mentali was useful for identifying users with anxiety and/or depression, and as an auxiliary tool to coordinate the provision of specialized interventions, allowing us to increase the proportion of patients who needed psychological care and received it by 30%. The efficacy of Mentali in identifying activities through time with an impact on the mood and mental health of the users was confirmed. Our results support the use of Mentali for the primary screening of mental health disorders in young adults, including medical students.

Development of an Auxiliary Platform (Mentali) for the Primary Screening of Anxiety and Depression in Young Adults

“…In addition to the demands and time involved in answering questionnaires with numerous items, together these results indicate the need to develop new anxiety and/or depression screening tests that are more attractive for young adults. Furthermore, future mobile interventions assessing coping strategies for stress and/or anxiety management should consider both unobtrusive strategies and user personality to improve user engagement and health support [ 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

“…Finally, it is important to note that Mentali has also previously enabled coordination of the provision of specialized interventions, allowing administrators of the app to increase the proportion of patients who needed psychological care and subsequently received it by 30%, and the identification of several variables related to user’s mental health conditions according to stage of life [ 20 ]. In addition, Mentali has been found to be beneficial in determining the relationship between academic activities over time with effects on mood and mental health.…”

“…In addition, Mentali has been found to be beneficial in determining the relationship between academic activities over time with effects on mood and mental health. Such information may be of value to academic authorities to create healthier academic environments [ 20 ].…”

Physical Violence During Pregnancy and Associated Factors of Mental Distress Among Women in Yangon Region, Myanmar: A Secondary Analysis of a Cross-Sectional Study

“…A mobile app created based on our nomogram can provide respondents with a personalized and interactive tool for assessing various factors and making prediction of risk of mental distress 30 . The app allows the respondents to input their relevant data and it displays the probability of the respondent experiencing mental distress.…”

Design and Validation of a Mobile Depression Application for Young Adults through Expert Review

“…The use of mobile technology in the delivery of therapeutic content is not a new thing. It is because mobile application in health care provides various benefits such as increased time of attention, immediate date processing, friendly design and cost-effectiveness [18]. Hence, using a mobile application to deliver therapeutic content for depression is very suitable.…”