The effect of telepsychiatric modalities on reduction of readmissions in psychiatric settings: A systematic review

INTRODUCTION: Telepsychiatric modalities are used widely in the treatment of many mental illnesses. It has also been proposed that telepsychiatric modalities could be a way to reduce readmissions. The purpose of the study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on the effects of telepsychiatric modalities on readmissions in psychiatric settings. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature search in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, Cochrane, PsycINFO and Joanna Briggs databases in October 2015. Inclusion criteria were (a) patients with a psychiatric diagnosis, (b) telepsychiatric interventions and (c) an outcome related to readmission. RESULTS: The database search identified 218 potential studies, of which eight were eligible for the review. Studies were of varying quality and there was a tendency towards low-quality studies (five studies) which found positive outcomes regarding readmission, whereas the more methodological sound studies (three studies) found no effect of telepsychiatric modalities on readmission rates. DISCUSSION: Previous studies have proven the effectiveness of telepsychiatric modalities in the treatment of various mental illnesses. However, in the present systematic review we were unable to find an effect of telepsychiatric modalities on the rate of readmission. Some studies found a reduced rate of readmissions, but the poor methodological quality make the findings questionable. At the present time there is no evidence to support the use of telepsychiatry due to heterogeneous interventions, heterogeneous patient groups and lack of high-quality studies.