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Treatment-seeking veterans have mixed views on telemedicine mental health treatment

PHILADELPHIA — Attitudes regarding mental health treatment via telehealth were mixed among a sample of recent veterans receiving outpatient treatment, according to data presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America annual conference.

“There has been an increase in the number of studies looking at telemedicine mental health interventions for a variety of mental health conditions, and particularly among veterans because this population is known as being difficult to engage in care due to stigma and things like that,” study researcher Elizabeth Goetter, PhD, of Massachusetts General Hospital, told Healio.com/Psychiatry. “One of the missions in our clinic and one of the issues in this field in general is how can we break down barriers to care and get people engaged in treatment? One of those ways is telehealth.”

Researchers analyzed data for 253 treatment-seeking veterans who presented to an outpatient clinic that provides care to recent veterans with deployment-related problems. Study participants completed the five-item Telehealth Attitudes Questionnaire, the PTSD checklist, and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress scale (DASS) at clinical intake.

Overall, 25.7% of the cohort indicated they were “not at all comfortable” using telehealth for mental health treatment, while 13.4% indicated they were “extremely comfortable.”

Further, 32.8% of participants indicated preference for in-person mental health visits.

PTSD checklist and DASS scores did not differ between participants who preferred in-person visits vs. those who did not.

Interest in telehealth was marginally associated with indicating geographic distance as a barrier to treatment (P = .07).

“It seems like veteran interest in telehealth is mixed. There is a sample of veterans who would like to pursue it, but there’s also some that prefer inpatient visits as well. It’s important to think about preference,” Goetter said. “Some future studies might look at how preference might impact engagement for people who do prefer video conferencing or telehealth types of treatments; they might do better getting their preferred modality of treatment.” – by Amanda Oldt

Reference:

Goetter E, et al. Veterans’ prospective attitudes about mental health treatment using telehealth. Presented at: Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference; March 31-April 3, 2016; Philadelphia.

Disclosure: Goetter reports no relevant financial disclosures.