Duration of psychiatric appointments for patients with Psychosis spectrum disorders in Serbia: Is it significantly prolonged by DIALOG+ psychosocial intervention?

Despite national and international guidelines recommending inclusion of psychotherapy and psychosocial interventions as regular part of treatment for patients with psychosis spectrum disorders (PSD), outpatient psychiatric care in Southeastern Europe (SEE) is mostly limited to medication prescription. DIALOG+ is a recently developed technology-based, patient centered psychosocial intervention that provides an economically viable intervention for treatment and comprehensive evaluation of multiple life domains. Its effectiveness in a range of psychiatric disorders has been shown in several studies conducted in high-income countries. Before an ongoing study evaluating DIALOG+ implementation and effectiveness in developing SEE countries is completed, we aimed to explore general impressions of mental health clinicians towards such an intervention and to compare the duration of treatment as usual (TAU) with DIALOG+ enriched appointments of PSD outpatients. The attendees of the national professional educational symposium were presented with DIALOG+, after which they completed a short survey on their general impressions towards the intervention. To obtain the information regarding duration of psychiatric appointments for patients with PSD in Serbia, we used data from a currently ongoing randomized clinical trial where DIALOG+ is being tested for effectiveness. The impressions of the survey (n=110) from mostly psychiatrists and psychiatry residents towards the concept of this intervention were overwhelmingly positive. However, the question arose if TAU is being prolonged by DIALOG+ to the extent that might limit its implementation. Although significant difference in average session duration was observed between DIALOG+ and TAU (31.96±16.47 vs. 19.75±6.11 minutes, p<0.01), providing structured interventions and patient evaluation might be of additional benefit for long term care and quality of life of PSD patients. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first evaluation of the duration of psychiatric appointments for outpatients with PSD in Serbia. Present information could be useful for different stakeholders in education of MH workers and implementation of DIALOG+ in the local settings.