JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Internet-based intervention platforms may improve access to mental health care for women suffering perinatal depression (PND). Though the majority of platforms in the market lack evidence base, a small number of them are supported by research evidence.

Objective:

We aim to assess the current status of internet-based PND intervention platforms supported by published evidence, understand the reasons behind the disappearance of any of these previously accessible platforms, examine adjustments made by those active platforms between research trials and market implementation, and evaluate their current quality.

Methods:

A cohort of internet-based PND intervention platforms was first identified by systematic searches in multiple academic databases from database inception until March 26, 2021. We searched on the World Wide Web, the iOS and Android App stores to assess which of these were available in the marketplace between April and May 2021. Basic characteristics of all platforms were collected. For inaccessible platforms, emails were sent to the authors of the corresponding publications to inquire the reasons for unavailability. For platforms still accessible, we compared their intervention-related information in the marketplace with that reported in the original publications. Quality assessments were conducted following the App Evaluation Model of the American Psychiatric Association(APA’ s model).

Results:

A total of 35 platforms supported by at least some research evidence were found in the literature, but only 19 (54.3%) were still accessible in the marketplace. The main reason of platforms disappearing was termination of the research projects. Adjustments were made to the core functions of sixteen (84.2%) platforms compared to those reported in related publications: twelve(63.2%) platforms had major adaptions in intervention methods, nine (47.4%) in human resources to support interventions, eight (42.1%) in whether to provide mood assessment and monitoring, and two (10.5%) in the type of platform (website or application). Quality issues across platforms included low frequency of update, lack of crisis management mechanism, poor user interactivity, and weak evidence-base or absence of citation of supporting evidence.

Conclusions:

Internet-based platforms supported by evidence were not effectively translated into real-world practice. It is unclear if adjustments of accessible platforms made during actual operation may undermine the proven validity in the original research. Future research to explore the reasons behind the success of implementation of evidence-based platforms in the marketplace is warranted.