ABSTRACT
COVID-19 have deteriorated mental health conditions in Bangladesh. The study aims to examine the impact of COVID-19 on mental health conditions through the propensity score matching method and establish the relationship between telehealth usage on mental health improvement during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearest neighbor matching approach has been used to match treatment unit to nearest comparison unit and achieved balance between treatment and control groups on observable traits. A cross-sectional study on 89 participants was conducted from April to June 2020. ATE (average treatment effect) & ATET (average treatment effect of treated) techniques were used. Logistic regression was used to examine the causal relationship between telehealth usage on mental health improvement. The coefficient of ATE on the population was − 0.026, stating that on average, participants with no past physical health problems had fewer mental health issues than the participants with a past physical health problem. The coefficient on ATET was − 0.034. The association between telehealth usage on mental health improvement was highly significant as p value = 0.00 < 0.05 with OR of 70 at 95% CI. There was strong evidence of positive mental health outcomes through telehealth usage during the pandemic. Experts should develop sustainable adaptations of mental healthcare delivery systems in this field to mitigate the disparities in healthcare provision.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Telehealth allows healthcare workers to see patients virtually in locations that were not accessible previously, which has reduced cost and time and saved lives. The research aims to examine gender disparity among telehealth usage during the pandemic in 2020. This study will leverage a timely national experiment to evaluate the users of telehealth across the Bangladeshi population. METHODS: We obtained de-identified data for 200 patients among outpatient telehealth visits from Global Health Data Exchange as it captured telehealth use throughout Bangladesh. RESULTS: The analysis showed that male patients had a higher dependency on telehealth than female patients. 14% of the female patients opted for telehealth visits only with 57% cases of missed doses of medication, compared to males with 20% of them choosing telehealth visits and 29% missing their doses of medication. We found that the youngest age group, 16-25, had the highest dependence on telehealth compared to any other age group, and the lowest dependence was among the oldest age group of 45 years and above. CONCLUSIONS: There was a strong association between telehealth use and gender disparity with p value â= â0.02 â< â0.05. Longitudinal and geographical data are needed to understand more about the gender disparities and impact in telehealth utilizations.