BMJ  2004;328:1200-1201 (15 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7449.1200-b

Letter

Internet access is a socioeconomic issue

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—The paper by Christensen et al on delivering interventions for depression by using the internet is encouraging.¹ Researchers are starting to probe more deeply into the potential the internet has to offer in medical care. Since the rise and fall of the dotcom bubble over the past few years, much has been promised by this new technology, but the research evidence has been slower to follow.

This paper, however, further confirms my suspicion that use of the internet continues to be socioeconomically determined.² Christensen et al show that the people who gained the most from their internet intervention were well educated women in their late 30s. This is particularly worrying as groups well recognised to be particularly affected by mood disorders—namely, old and poor people—do not seem to be represented.

The explanation may be that old and poor people in Australia have a similar pattern of internet access . . . [Full text of this article]

Daleham Gardens Surgery, London NW3 5BY Geoffrey.Wong@gp-F83633.nhs.uk

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Delivering interventions for depression by using the internet: randomised controlled trial

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Hsu, J., Huang, J., Fung, V., Robertson, N., Jimison, H., Frankel, R. (2005). Health Information Technology and Physician-Patient Interactions: Impact of Computers on Communication during Outpatient Primary Care Visits. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 12: 474-480 [Abstract] [Full text]  
• Wong, G. (2004). Email consultations in health care: Set your auto reply to "no". BMJ 329: 1046-1046 [Full text]  

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