Media and Internet Ownership and Use among Mental Health Outpatients with Serious Mental Illness

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether people with serious mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorder (SUD) use the Internet to receive health information. Methods: One hundred people with SMI were surveyed in community mental health clinics. Results: Participants with SUD were significantly less likely to use the Internet compared to those who without SUD (.34 [.12–.95] p = .04). Internet users with SUD were significantly more likely to report accessing sites topically related to substance abuse (p = .01). Conclusion: Few participants with SMI and SUD used the Internet. Attention to educating patients about quality health information on the Internet may be warranted.

Keywords:

• Drug use
• Internet