Abstract
Background and objectiveA significant proportion of the adult population in the United States (US) live with some form of mental illness. The more prevalent conditions of depression and anxiety are typically managed in primary care settings rather than specialty care. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a novel, measurement-driven psychiatric treatment platform delivered via an online telemental health platform as compared to treatment as usual (TAU).MethodsThe TAU dataset and the telemental health platform (Brightside) dataset were constructed based on the total populations of adult patients receiving care for depression from January 2018 through December 2020 (November 2018 through March 2021 for the Brightside group). Patients in both groups had a primary mental health diagnosis of depression and the presence of a positive screen for depression as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) upon initiation of treatment. HITLAB, an independent digital health verification and testing lab, conducted comparative analyses of the two groups using the Chi-square test of independence.ResultsClose to 80% of telemental health platform patients experienced a reduction of 5 or more points from their baseline PHQ-9 score as compared to 52% of TAU patients. The mean reduction in PHQ-9 score was slightly higher in the Brightside group (-11.5) versus the TAU group (-10.1). Chi-square tests of independence [x2 (1, n=6281) = 256.75, p≤0.001] for meaningful reduction and for remission [x2 (1, n=6281) = 105.50 p≤0.001] were highly significant.ConclusionThe telemental health platform patients performed significantly better than those under psychiatric TAU in terms of reduction in symptoms of depression in adults.
Highlights
Close to one billion people worldwide and one in every five adults in the United States (US) live with some form of mental illness
The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a novel, measurement-driven psychiatric treatment platform delivered via an online telemental health platform as compared to treatment as usual (TAU)
The mean reduction in Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score was slightly higher in the Brightside group (-11.5) versus the TAU group (-10.1)
Summary
Close to one billion people worldwide and one in every five adults in the United States (US) live with some form of mental illness. Anxiety and depression are the two most common mental health conditions and contribute significantly to the burden of illness on the healthcare systems worldwide; care costs and reduction in productivity cost the global economy close to $1 trillion dollars annually and that amount is estimated to reach $6 trillion by 2030 [1,2,3]. As psychiatric care represents a small slice of the multifocal primary care visit, there is less prioritization of mental health services, less time is devoted to rigorously measuring and monitoring mental health symptoms [14], and medication selection by PCPs is often found to be less varied and doses less frequently modified [15,16]. The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of a novel, measurement-driven psychiatric treatment platform delivered via an online telemental health platform as compared to treatment as usual (TAU)
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