Utilization of telehealth services in low- and middle-income countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative summary.

BACKGROUND: During the current period of the pandemic, telehealth has been a boon to the healthcare system by providing quality healthcare services at a safe social distance. However, there has been slow progress in telehealth services in low- and middle-income countries with little to no evidence of the cost and effectiveness of such programmes. OBJECTIVE: To provide an overview of the expansion of telehealth in low- and middle-income countries amid the COVID-19 pandemic and identify the challenges, benefits, and costs associated with implementing telehealth services in these countries. METHODS: We performed a literature review using the search term: '*country name* AND ((telemedicine[Title][Abstract]) OR (telehealth[Title][Abstract] OR eHealth[Title][Abstract] OR mHealth[Title][Abstract]))'. Initially, we started with 467 articles, which were reduced to 140 after filtering out duplicates and including only primary research studies. Next, these articles were screened based on established inclusion criteria and 44 articles were finalised to be used in the review. RESULTS: We found telehealth-specific software being used as the most common tool to provide such services. Nine articles reported patient satisfaction of greater than 90% with telehealth services. Moreover, the articles identified the ability to make a correct diagnosis to resolve the condition, efficient mobilisation of healthcare resources, increased accessibility for patients, increased service utilisation, and increased satisfaction as benefits of telehealth services, whereas inaccessibility, low technological literacy, and lack of support, poor security standards and technological concerns, loss of interest by the patients, and income impacts on physicians as challenges. The review could not find articles that explored the financial information on telehealth programme implementation. CONCLUSION: Although telehealth services are growing in popularity, the research gap on the efficacy of telehealth is high in low- and middle-income countries. To better guide the future development of telehealth services, rigorous economic evaluation of telehealth is needed.

Differences in Mental Health Status Among Asian Americans During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Findings from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study.

Purpose: This study aims to explore the differences in mental health status among Asian Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Data from the 2020 Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic (HEAP) Study were used to explore the psychological distress of 2672 adults, using the Standard Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. Results: We observed that among Asian American subgroups, South Asian Americans had significantly higher odds of experiencing psychological distress than non-Hispanic White Americans (odds ratio = 1.82, 95% confidence interval = 1.00-3.31), after controlling for covariates. Conclusion: The study identified differences in mental health status among Asian American subgroups. We recommend the implementation of culturally appropriate interventions to help Asian Americans cope with mental health challenges.