1: Telepsychiatry versus face-to-face treatment: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Science of the Month - October 2023
Br J Psychiatry.
2023 Sep;223(3):407-414. doi: 10.1192
Katsuhiko Hagi, Shunya Kurokawa, Akihiro Takamiya, Mayu Fujikawa, Shotaro Kinoshita, Mari Iizuka, Shota Furukawa, Yoko Eguchi, Taishiro Kishimoto
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly changed the means of providing medical care worldwide, and this was particularly pronounced in the field of psychiatry. Perhaps aided by the nature of the specialty, where face-to-face conversation constitutes a large part of the consultation, some regions have seen the majority of psychiatric care shift to telemedicine (online consultations). Naturally, verification of its effectiveness is necessary, but a comprehensive review had not been conducted. This meta-analysis examined the difference in effectiveness between online and face-to-face consultations based on data from a total of 3,592 participants in 32 studies on 11 psychiatric disorders. The results of the disease-specific analysis showed that for depression, online consultation was superior to face-to-face consultation in terms of treatment effect, while for eating disorders, face-to-face treatment was superior. However, when all disorders were integrated, no significant difference was found between the two. Furthermore, regarding treatment continuation, online consultation was superior for mild cognitive impairment, but the opposite was true for substance use disorders. Thus, while online consultation generally shows a treatment effect equivalent to that of face-to-face consultation, there are cases where differences are observed depending on the disorder, necessitating the selection of a more appropriate approach. The authors are also conducting randomized controlled trials of online consultations within the Japanese healthcare system and aim to provide high-quality evidence for more appropriate healthcare policy decisions.
(Taishiro Kishimoto, Hills Joint Research Laboratory for Future Preventive Medicine and Wellness, 79th)
Other Published Papers
1: T follicular helper cells and T peripheral helper cells in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases.
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.
2023 Jul 6;ard-2023-224225. doi: 10.1136/ard-2023-224225.
Akiyama M, Alshehri W, Yoshimoto K, Kaneko Y.