Patients in Rural Areas Embracing Telepsychiatry
Key clinical point: Telepsychiatry appears to be a valuable tool for delivering mental health services to patients living in rural areas.
Major finding: No significant differences were found in the number of new consultations or follow-up mental health visits between a telepsychiatry clinic and traditional in-person clinic. The mean number of new evaluations of adult patients per day was 1.06 for remote visits vs. 0.97 for face-to-face visits, and the mean number of daily adult follow-up visits also was similar at 3.52 and 3.64.
Data source: Retrospective review comparing mean visits for 1,077 adult, child, and adolescent patients seen in face-to-face visits and 890 seen via telemedicine.
Disclosures: The research was supported by East Carolina University. Dr. Yildirim and Dr. Horta reported having no conflicts of interest.
AT THE APA ANNUAL MEETING
The mean number of new evaluations of adult patients per day was 1.06 for remote visits vs. 0.97 for face-to-face visits (no significant difference), and the mean number of daily adult follow-up visits also was similar at 3.52 and 3.64.
New evaluations of children per day averaged 0.78 for telepsychiatry and 0.93 for the face-to-face clinic, and the mean number of children seen for follow-up daily was identical to that of adult follow-up visits at 3.52 and 3.64, respectively.
The findings show that telepsychiatry is feasible as a means of providing mental health services to adults, children, and adolescents in areas where psychiatrists are few and far between. Telepsychiatry also could be used to provide some forms of therapy, Dr. Yildirim said.
"More telepsychiatry programs should be funded to provide mental health services in rural areas where access to mental health services is difficult," he wrote in a poster presentation.
"I think this would be very good for my country, Brazil, which has a shortage of psychiatrists all over. I think it’s an excellent solution" said Dr. Carlos Horta, a psychiatrist who practices in São Paulo, Brazil.
Dr. Horta was not involved in the study.
The research was supported by East Carolina University. Dr. Yildirim and Dr. Horta reported having no conflicts of interest.
