Telemental Health Assessment of Adolescents During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Follow-up Study

• Main Authors: Birsen Şentürk Pilan (Author), İpek İnal Kaleli (Author), Didem Çek (Author), Tuğçe Özcan (Author), Faig Azizov (Author), Samira Huseynova (Author), Gizem Cengiz (Author), Sezen Köse (Author), Burcu Özbaran (Author), Zeki Yüncü (Author), Serpil Erermiş (Author), Tezan Bildik (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Galenos Yayinevi, 2023-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2147-9445; 2587-2478; 10.4274/jpr.galenos.2023.66587
• Keywords: child and adolescent psychiatry; covid-19 pandemic; mental health; telemental health; telepsychiatry; Medicine; R; Pediatrics; RJ1-570
• Source: Journal of Pediatric Research, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 80-86 (2023)

Aim:This study aimed to understand how the pandemic has affected the mental health of adolescents with a previous psychiatric diagnosis.Materials and Methods:Fifty-nine patients aged 12-18 years who had been previously followed up in the adolescent mental health unit were included in this study. The participants were interviewed via telephone between June-July, 2020 and December, 2020-January 2021. Their socio-demographic data, psychiatric diagnoses and the previous Clinical Global Impression (CGI) scores were obtained from the patient files. The clinical global follow-up scale was scored by the interviewing physician.Results:Past CGI scores before the pandemic were significantly greater for those participants with more than one psychiatric condition (p=0.024). For those participants with more than one psychiatric condition, the difference between the CGI scores prior to the pandemic and during the early stages of the pandemic were significant (p=0.004). The total satisfaction scores for telepsychiatry services assessed via the telemedicine evaluation form were statistically higher for those participants with a single psychiatric disorder (p=0.023). The past and early pandemic CGI scores were found to be inversely correlated with the telemedicine evaluation form with r=-0.338, p=0.019, r=-0.353 p=0.014, respectively.Conclusion:The present study offers a perspective for adolescent mental health during the pandemic, underlining the importance and caveats of healthcare delivery to the youth with mental health problems during lockdown.