SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online

 
vol.46 issue2Impact of a multimodal intervention on the psychological profile of schizophrenic and bipolar I patients: A study of PRISMA programmeSexual abuse and neglect situations as risk factors for adolescent pregnancy, author indexsubject indexarticles search
Home Pagealphabetic serial listing  

Services on Demand

Journal

Article

Indicators

Related links

  • On index processCited by Google
  • Have no similar articlesSimilars in SciELO
  • On index processSimilars in Google

Share


Revista Colombiana de Psiquiatría

Print version ISSN 0034-7450

Abstract

BARRERA-VALENCIA, Camilo et al. Cost-effectiveness of synchronous vs. asynchronous telepsychiatry in prison inmates with depression,. rev.colomb.psiquiatr. [online]. 2017, vol.46, n.2, pp.65-73. ISSN 0034-7450.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rcpeng.2017.05.005.

Introduction:

Telepsychiatry is defined as the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in providing remote psychiatric services. Telepsychiatry is applied using two types of communication: synchronous (real time) and asynchronous (store and forward).

Objective:

To determine the cost-effectiveness of a synchronous and an asynchronous telepsychiatric model in prison inmate patients with symptoms of depression.

Methods:

A cost-effectiveness study was performed on a population consisting of 157 patients from the Establecimiento Penitenciario y Carcelario de Mediana Seguridad de Manizales, Colombia. The sample was determined by applying Zung self-administered surveys for depression (1965) and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS), the latter being the tool used for the comparison.

Results:

Initial Hamilton score, arrival time, duration of system downtime, and clinical effectiveness variables had normal distributions (p >0.05). There were significant differences (p < 0.001) between care costs for the different models, showing that the mean cost of the asynchronous model is less than synchronous model, and making the asynchronous model more cost-effective.

Conclusions:

The asynchronous model is the most cost-effective model of telepsychiatry care for patients with depression admitted to a detention centre, according to the results of clinical effectiveness, cost measurement, and patient satisfaction.

Keywords : Telepsychiatry; Synchronous; Asynchronous Prisons; Cost-effectiveness.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in English     · English ( pdf )