Telepsychiatry for Patients with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder During the COVID-19 Outbreak.
Curr Treat Options Psychiatry
; 8(3): 158-165, 2021.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1803224
ABSTRACT
Purpose:
The novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, emerged from Wuhan, China, causing a pandemic. Access to outpatient psychiatric care was limited. We conducted a pilot study of telepsychiatry during a national shutdown. Adult patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) participated via Zoom. Patient preference comparing televisits to face-to-face visits was assessed. Recentfindings:
Telemedicine has emerged as new technological tool in the evolution of the patient-physician relationship, changing the way we interact. Physicians and patients now have access to the electronic medical record, remote point-of-care testing, and each other. The present epidemic allows us to test the limits of technology in combating limited access to care for patients with psychiatric illness.Summary:
Twenty (90% male) patients with PTSD participated. Most (90 %) were moderately to severely depressed, and 50% used medical cannabis and increased their dosage during the study period. Patients preferred face-to-face meetings for its ease of use (p < .01) and general satisfaction from therapy (p < .01). However, given continued outbreak-limiting access to care, most patients stated they would continue with telepsychiatry. While most patients preferred face-to-face visits, telepsychiatry can be used during times of outbreak-limiting access to care. Future research and development should be directed at improving technological ease of use.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Language:
English
Journal:
Curr Treat Options Psychiatry
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S40501-021-00245-z
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