The Use of Telepsychiatry during Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Cross-sectional Study on Demographic and Clinical Profile of Those who Sought Help by Using this Facility

AIM: We aimed to study the demographic and clinical profile of patients who sought teleconsultation for psychiatric disorders from august 2020 to January 2021. MATERIALS & METHODS: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, data was retrieved from the telepsychiatry services and was analyzed to examine the demographic and clinical parameters of patients. RESULTS: Atotal of 3444 teleconsultations were sought with a mean age of 37.78 ± 15.08. About 80% of the patients were in the age group of 20-60 years. Females outnumbered males with 1938 (56.3%) females and 1538 (43.7%) males. Mood disorders were the most frequent diagnosis with Major Depressive Disorder in 1572 (45.6%) and Bipolar Disorder in 636 (18.5%). Co-morbidity was present in 234 (6.8%) of the study group. The mean psychotropics prescribed were 1.95 ± 0.84. One, two, three and four psychotropics were prescribed in 918 (26.7%), 1470 (42.7%), 900 (26.1%) and 42 (1.2%) respectively. Those aged < 20 years or ≥ 60 years prescribed psychotropics at lower rates in comparison to the 20-60 years age group. Female patients had a significantly higher rate of psychotropic prescription than male patients. Three or four psychotropics were prescribed to those with co-morbidity at a significantly higher rate. CONCLUSION: Demographic and clinical profile of patients seeking treatment through telepsychiatry was found to be comparable with face-to-face outpatient consultations. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: With the development of clinical, operational, legal, and ethical guidelines for telepsychiatry practice, the systematic application of Information and Communication Technologies to the practice of mental healthcare is being rapidly adopted.