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Telemental Health Appears Acceptable for Young Adults With Chronic Illness, But Is it Effective?
Available evidence regarding the efficacy of telemental health interventions for youth and young adults with chronic illness is mixed, according to a systematic review published in JMIR Mental Health.
“Our findings suggest that although COVID-19 has necessitated remote treatment delivery, and patients and families may find this mode of delivery to be engaging and satisfactory, the state of the science is in a nascent stage and there is much to be learned about whether such interventions work, for whom they work, and in what contexts they work,” researchers wrote.
Mental health challenges associated with chronic illness include anxiety, depression, and poor coping skills, researchers explained. They conducted their systematic review to gauge the feasibility and efficacy of remote mental health interventions for youth with chronic illnesses.
A search revealed only 12 studies that focused on telemental health interventions for patients 25 years or younger with chronic illnesses. The studies spanned 7 unique telemental health interventions, and 10 were pilot studies with small sample sizes. Most of the interventions involved cognitive behavioral therapy and problem-solving therapy, researchers reported.
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The 5 studies with feasibility outcomes suggested telemental health is appropriate, acceptable, and satisfactory to patients and parents, according to the review.
Meanwhile, the 7 studies that reported efficacy outcomes yielded mixed findings. While single-cohort and waitlist control pilot studies showed medium to large treatment effects, randomized studies with active comparison conditions produced little evidence of significant treatment effects for a range of mental health symptoms, researchers reported.
“Only one trial compared face-to-face and telemental health delivery of the same intervention; both modes of delivery were similarly efficacious,” they wrote, “and improvements were not sustained at longer-term follow-up.”
The authors advised a need for larger, randomized trials to compare telemental health with in-person care.
“Ultimately,” they wrote, “this study and future studies will help inform whether, for whom, and under what treatment conditions telemental health has the potential to serve as a sustainable long-term alternative to in-person care after the COVID-19 pandemic.”
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