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The internet network continues to be a major source of health-related information. Our research provides insights into the online health-seeking behaviors of the general population, and evaluates the potential relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and public interest and awareness of general sleep health, mental health and wellbeing.Google Trends’ weekly relative search volumes (RSVs) were examined during 2020 for searches specifically related to COVID-19 symptoms, and for searches related to general health, sleep and wellbeing, in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, Italy and Japan. To obtain insight into the association between the initiation of public restrictions and online search trends, we assessed a six-week period; the ‘early pandemic period’ (EPP) (01 March 2020 – 11 April 2020). To provide a meaningful pre-pandemic comparison, a similar period during 2019 (03 March – 13 April 2019) was compared for RSV and median difference analysis.The EPP was associated with increased online searches related to COVID-19 symptoms, as compared with those related to more general sleep health, mental health and wellbeing. The latter search terms frequently showed a decrease or minimal change in RSV during the EPP compared with the equivalent period in 2019. This finding illustrates the potential link between the COVID-19 pandemic and online search behavior and corroborates existing findings regarding internet searches during this period.Proactive communication by healthcare professionals during future pandemics and as an ongoing measure could help prevent public neglect of general health and wellbeing symptoms, and encourage reporting and early intervention.

Background: Computerized versions of well-established measurements such as the PHQ-9 are widely used, but data on the comparability of psychometric properties are scarce. Objective: Our objective was to compare the interformat reliability of the paper-and-pen version with a computerized version of the PHQ-9 in a clinical sample. Methods: 130 participants with mental health disorders were recruited during psychotherapeutic treatment in a mental health clinic. In a crossover design, they all completed the PHQ-9 in both the computerized and paper-and-pen versions in randomized order. Results: The internal consistency was comparable for the computer (α = 0.88) and paper versions (α = 0.89), and highly significant correlations were found between the formats (r = 0.92). PHQ-9 total scores were not significantly different between the paper and the computer delivered versions. There was a significant interaction effect between format and order of administration for the PHQ-9, indicating that the first administration delivered slightly higher scores. Limitations: In order to reduce the required effort for the participants, we did not ask them to fill out anything but the PHQ-9 once in paper and once in computer version. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the PHQ-9 can be transferred to computerized use without affecting psychometric properties in a clinically meaningful way.

Background: Depressive disorder is a major societal challenge. Despite the availability of clinically and cost-effective treatments including Internet interventions, the number of patients receiving treatment is limited. Evidence-based Internet interventions promise wide availability and high efficiency of treatments. However, these interventions often do not enter routine mental healthcare delivery at a large scale. The MasterMind project aims to provide insight into the factors that promote or hinder the uptake and implementation of evidence-based Internet interventions by mental healthcare practice. Internet-based Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (iCBT) and videoconferencing facilitating collaborative care (ccVC) will be implemented in routine mental healthcare. The services will be offered to 5230 depressed adults in 15 European regions. The current paper describes the evaluation protocol for this large-scale implementation project. Design: Current summative evaluation study follows a naturalistic one-group pretest–posttest design and assesses three distinct stakeholders: patients, mental healthcare professionals, and mental healthcare organisations. The Model for Assessment of Telemedicine applications (MAST) will be employed to structure the implementation and evaluation study. The primary focal points of interest are reach, clinical effect, acceptability, appropriateness, implementation costs, and sustainability of the interventions in practice. Mixed-methods are used to provide an understanding of what (quantitative) the implementation projects have achieved and their meaning to various stakeholders (qualitative). Discussion: The use of Internet interventions in routine practice is limited. MasterMind attempts to bridge the gap between routine practice and effectiveness research by evaluating the implementation of evidence-based Internet interventions for depressive disorders in routine mental healthcare settings in Europe.