Interest in using patient portals among adolescents in mental health care - a cross-sectional study

Introduction: Adolescents in mental healthcare may benefit from using patient portals to access personalized information about their health and treatment. While no studies consider the interest in using patient portals among adolescents in mental health care, some factors have been found to be associated with interest in and use of patient portals in other patient groups. The aim was therefore to explore the associations between interest in using patient portals and patient activation, self-reported health, depressive symptoms, diagnosis, healthcare utilization and eHealth literacy among adolescents in mental health care. Methods: A cross-sectional study among adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age receiving or having received treatment at four different specialist child and adolescent mental healthcare services across Norway. The adolescents´ answers to the questionnaire were linked to data on their healthcare utilization and ICD-10 diagnoses from the Norwegian Patient Registry. Data were analysed with descriptive statistics and bivariate tests. Results: The 53 adolescents who participated, had a mean age of 15 years and 68% of them identified as female. Two out of three (64%) were interested in using patient portals. Most of the factors were not associated with interest in using patient portals, but adolescents with mental and behavioural disorders (F diagnoses, 75% interested) were more interested in using patient portals than those with symptoms and signs involving cognition, perception, emotional state, and behaviour (R diagnoses, 31% interested). Conclusion: Except for diagnosis, this study did not identify any specific factor that is likely to have an impact on patient portal interest among adolescents in specialist mental health care.