{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:36:01Z","timestamp":1785404161396,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1776643200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["project 110_596697345"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["project 110_596697345"]}]},{"award":["project 110_596697345"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["project 110_596697345"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00snfqn58","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["UIDB\/50026\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/50026\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["UIDP\/50026\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/50026\/2020"]}]},{"name":"Foundation for Science and Technology","award":["LA\/P\/0050\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0050\/2020"]}]},{"award":["UIDB\/50026\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDB\/50026\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00snfqn58","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["UIDP\/50026\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UIDP\/50026\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00snfqn58","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["LA\/P\/0050\/2020"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["LA\/P\/0050\/2020"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00snfqn58","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Epidemiologia"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: The prevalence of mental disorders, particularly anxiety and depression, has been increasing and is becoming a major public health concern in Portugal. Digital mental health solutions offer scalable and accessible tools for monitoring and managing mental health. \u2018P5 Mental Health\u2019 has been created as a platform to assess and monitor symptoms of anxiety and depression in the Portuguese population, and to offer strategies to promote well-being to support users. Objective: This study aims to (1) describe the P5 Mental Health platform, (2) evaluate its feasibility as a digital mental health monitoring tool, and (3) analyze trends in the prevalence and severity of anxiety and depression symptoms over a four-year period, particularly in response to major societal stressors. Methods: Between September 2020 and September 2024, 46,032 responses were collected from platform users. Anxiety and depression symptoms were assessed using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scales. Longitudinal trends were analyzed across four time periods. Welch\u2019s ANOVA and Games\u2013Howell post hoc tests were conducted to compare symptom severity across time, and ordinal logistic regression was used to examine the impact of time on symptom progression. Results: Anxiety and depression symptoms increased between 2020 and 2022, stabilized thereafter, and showed a slight decline in 2024. The proportion of users reporting moderate to severe anxiety (GAD-7 \u2265 10) rose from 30.87% in September 2020 to 66.30% in June 2022. Similarly, the prevalence of moderate to severe depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 \u2265 10) rose from 3.62% in March 2021 to 51.54% in August 2021. Despite a small decrease in 2024, symptom levels remained significantly higher than baseline levels recorded at the beginning (p &lt; 0.001). A strong positive correlation was found between anxiety and depression symptoms (r = 0.739, p &lt; 0.001), underscoring their high comorbidity. Conclusions: This study demonstrates the feasibility of the P5 Mental Health platform as a real-time mental health monitoring tool, particularly during periods of heightened social and economic stress. The findings highlight the need for sustained digital mental health interventions beyond crisis periods to ensure long-term engagement; however, future improvements should focus on increasing user engagement and adding personalized features to ensure long-term mental health management.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/epidemiologia7020056","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]],"date-time":"2026-04-20T13:22:47Z","timestamp":1776691367000},"page":"56","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["P5 Mental Health Platform: A Digital Solution to Monitor Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in the General Portuguese Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Patr\u00edcia","family":"Soares-Coelho","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"2CA-Clinical Academic Center, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lu\u00eds","family":"Jesus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"2CA-Clinical Academic Center, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mafalda","family":"Machado-Sousa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"2CA-Clinical Academic Center, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liliana","family":"Amorim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Association P5 Digital Medical Center (ACMP5), 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3527-1623","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"S\u00f3nia","family":"Ferreira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"2CA-Clinical Academic Center, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1573-2445","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Pic\u00f3-P\u00e9rez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"Departamento de Psicolog\u00eda, B\u00e1sica Cl\u00ednica y Psicobiolog\u00eda, Universitat Jaume I, 12071 Castell\u00f3n de la Plana, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3880-3258","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pedro","family":"Morgado","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"PT Government Associate Laboratory ICVS\/3B\u2019s, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"2CA-Clinical Academic Center, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"},{"name":"Association P5 Digital Medical Center (ACMP5), 4710-057 Braga, Portugal"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1186\/s12911-024-02488-1","article-title":"Individuals\u2019 attitudes toward digital mental health apps and implications for adoption in Portugal: Web-based survey","volume":"24","year":"2024","journal-title":"BMC Med. 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