Effectiveness, Acceptability and Feasibility of Digital Health Interventions for LGBTIQ+ Young People: Systematic Review

Background: Young people of diverse sexuality, gender or bodily characteristics, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex or queer (LGBTIQ+), are at substantially greater risk of a range of mental, physical and sexual health difficulties compared to their peers. Digital health interventions have been identified as a potential way forward to reducing these health disparities.
Objective: The objective of this review was to identify and summarise existing evidence-based digital health interventions for LGBTIQ+ young people, and to describe the evidence for their efficacy, acceptability and feasibility.
Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted of online databases and grey literature sources, and the results were screened for inclusion. Included studies were synthesised qualitatively.
Results: The search identified 38 studies of 24 unique interventions seeking to address mental, physical or sexual health-related concerns in LGBTIQ+ young people. These interventions were largely found to be effective, feasible, and acceptable to the target population. Substantially more evidence-based interventions existed for gay and bisexual men, related to risk reduction of sexually-transmitted infections, than any other population group or health concern.
Conclusions: There is sufficient evidence to suggest that targeted digital health interventions are an important path forward to addressing health difficulties in LGBTIQ+ young people. Additional digital health interventions are needed for a wider range of health difficulties, particularly in terms of mental and physical health concerns, as well as more targeted interventions for same gender-attracted women, trans and gender diverse people and people with intersex variations.