Utilization of telepsychiatry network services during COVID-19: A retrospective observational study

Background: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of the individuals and treatment seekers has been immense. Telepsychiatry services were thus undertaken to continue the availability of services and maintain follow-up to reduce in-person outpatient visits. Aims and Objectives: (1) To study the sociodemographic and clinical variables of telepsychiatry service users and (2) To assess the compliance to telepsychiatry services in outpatient practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The case details including sociodemographic variables and clinical variables of telepsychiatry service users from June 1, 2020, to May 31, 2021, were collected from the telemedicine pro forma approved by the institute. A comparison was drawn between the diagnosis of individuals seeking psychiatric help for the first time and old follow-up patients. The overall improvement and number of follow-ups were also analyzed. The data collected were tabulated and analyzed as per coding system using statistical analysis system software. Results: The data were analyzed and were studied retrospectively for a total of 300 patients. More patients were in the age group of 18–30 years (35.7%), males (70.3%), and were from an urban background (87.3%). The predominant reason for consultation was renewal of prescriptions (53.66%). Patients with International Classification of Disease diagnoses of F10–19, F30–39, and F40–49 were proportionately high. The maximum number of patients were followed up on 3–6 occasions (49.16%). 86.6% of the patients showed a significant improvement. Conclusion: The study concludes that telepsychiatry is very useful as a mode of treatment and its significant role in the enrollment of new patients with mental health issues as well as continuing follow-up, especially when physical consultations are difficult.