Almalky Ahmad M, Alhaidar Fatima A
Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, SAU.
Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, SAU.
Cureus. 2021 Aug 19;13(8):e17307. doi: 10.7759/cureus.17307. eCollection 2021 Aug.
Background and objective Telepsychiatry uses electronic communication and various technologies to provide psychiatric care by a psychiatrist in one location to a patient in another location. It was originally created to meet the mental health needs of patients in rural, remote, and inaccessible areas. This study aimed to assess the satisfaction level with telepsychiatry from patients' perspectives and to study whether the satisfaction levels influence the patients' decision to use the service in the future. Methodology This was a cross-sectional survey study conducted at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study included psychiatric patients with complete medical records who were followed up through the telepsychiatry program over the phone due to the restriction and regulation implemented by the government in the wake of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The data were collected via a questionnaire designed on a Google Form. Initially, the sample size was set at 337 psychiatric patients, but only 141 patients agreed to be included. The SPSS Statistics program (IBM, Armonk, NY) was used to analyze the data. Results Patients were generally satisfied with the telepsychiatry services; 80.1%, 95.7%, and 96.5% of the participants were satisfied with the structure, process, and outcome, respectively, and 94.3% of the patients reported a sense of overall satisfaction. The study did not find any relationship between satisfaction and demographic characteristics. Patients highly valued some aspects during the service use, such as comfort, privacy, easy access, carefulness, and skillfulness of the clinicians. Of the respondents, 24.1% agreed and 24.8% strongly agreed when asked if they would use the service in the future. Conclusion Patients had generally positive satisfaction levels toward telepsychiatry service, and many reported that they would like to continue using it in the future. However, further studies are needed to assess whether patient perception will change over time after the COVID-19 pandemic.
背景与目的 远程精神病学利用电子通信和各种技术，由一名精神科医生在一个地点为另一个地点的患者提供精神科护理。其最初是为满足农村、偏远和交通不便地区患者的心理健康需求而设立的。本研究旨在从患者角度评估对远程精神病学的满意度，并研究满意度水平是否会影响患者未来使用该服务的决定。方法 这是一项在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的哈立德国王大学医院进行的横断面调查研究。该研究纳入了有完整病历的精神科患者，由于2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行后政府实施的限制和规定，这些患者通过远程精神病学项目进行电话随访。数据通过在谷歌表单上设计的问卷收集。最初，样本量设定为337名精神科患者，但只有141名患者同意纳入。使用SPSS Statistics程序（IBM，纽约州阿蒙克）分析数据。结果 患者总体上对远程精神病学服务感到满意；分别有80.1%、95.7%和96.5%的参与者对结构、过程和结果感到满意，94.3%的患者表示总体满意。研究未发现满意度与人口统计学特征之间存在任何关系。患者在使用服务过程中高度重视某些方面，如舒适度、隐私、便捷性、临床医生的细心和专业能力。在受访者中，当被问及是否会在未来使用该服务时，24.1%的人表示同意，24.8%的人表示强烈同意。结论 患者对远程精神病学服务总体满意度较高，许多人表示希望未来继续使用。然而，需要进一步研究来评估COVID-19大流行后患者的看法是否会随时间变化。
