Title:Effectiveness and Patient Satisfaction of Telepsychiatry Services for Reducing Anxiety in COVID-19 Outpatients: A Assessor
Blinded RCT
Volume: 21
Issue: 3
Author(s): Mohammad Hossein Hayavi-Haghighi*, Somayeh Davoodi and Marjan Mosallanejad
Affiliation:
- Department of Health Information Technology, Faculty of Para-medicine, Hormozgan University
of Medical Sciences, Bandar Abbas, Iran
Keywords:
Telepsychiatry, telehealth, COVID-19, anxiety management, user satisfaction, pandemic.
Abstract:
Introduction: Given the importance of anxiety management in pandemics, this
study evaluated the effectiveness of telepsychiatry in reducing anxiety in outpatients with
COVID-19 and their satisfaction.
Methods: This RCT was conducted in a health center in which 188 COVID-19 outpatients
participated. First, anxiety level was measured in both the intervention (IG) and control
(CG) groups using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Then, the IG was offered four educational
contents via WhatsApp for four consecutive weeks. One month later, participants
completed the BAI questionnaire again, and the CG completed a satisfaction questionnaire.
Descriptive statistics and Wilcoxon and Chi-square tests were applied
Results: Psychosomatic complications were significantly reduced only in IG, but physical
complications were reduced in both groups. Total anxiety also decreased significantly in
both groups, but more significantly in IG (p < .001 for IG and p < .039 for CG). The efficacy
of telepsychiatry in reducing anxiety in healthcare workers was greater than in other
occupational groups. There was no significant relationship between other demographic
variables and telepsychiatry effectiveness. Seventy-eight percent of IG participants had a
high level of satisfaction and 70.3% expressed a high desire to receive telepsychiatry in the
future. The most important advantages of telepsychiatry were observing social distance,
saving time, and reducing costs. In addition, The most important challenges were the lack
of face-to-face contact, the lack of previous experience, and the late response of the psychologist.
Conclusion: Telepsychiatry effectively reduced moderate anxiety related to COVID-19
and provided high satisfaction.
Clinical Trail Registration Number: IRCTID: IRCT20211223053500N1.
