Usefulness of telepsychiatry: A critical evaluation of videoconferencing-based approaches

Table 1 Reliability of videoconferencing-based assessments: Comparisons with face-to-face evaluations

Ref.	Patient group	Scale used	Study design	Results
Baer et al[40]	16 adults with OCD	YBOCS, HAM-D, HAM-A	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Montani et al[41]	10 elderly psychiatric inpatients with no cognitive impairment	MMSE, CFT	Non-RCT	VC inferior to F2F
Montani et al[42]	15 elderly psychiatric inpatients with no cognitive impairment	MMSE, CFT	Non-RCT	VC inferior to F2F in certain aspects
Baigent et al[43]	63 adult inpatients	BPRS	Non-RCT	BPRS ratings similar; differences in ratings of affect
Zarate et al[44]	45 patients with schizophrenia	BPRS, SANS, SAPS	Non-RCT	Global severity and BPRS similar, SANS not reliably rated, higher BW better
Montani et al[45]	25 elderly psychiatric inpatients, 10 with dementia	MMSE, CFT	Non-RCT	VC inferior to F2F in non-cognitively impaired elderly; VC = F2F in those with dementia
Ruskin et al[46]	30 adult inpatients	SCID	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Ball et al[47]	11 elderly psychiatric patients	CAMCOG	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Ball et al[48]	99 responses of elderly psychiatric patients	MMSE	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Stevens et al[49]	40 adult psychiatric patients	SCID	RCT	Similar satisfaction with both methods
Kirkwood et al[50]	27 inpatients with history of alcohol abuse	Neuropsychological battery	Non-RCT	Cognitive assessment by VC = F2F
Chae et al[51]	30 adult patients with schizophrenia	BPRS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F; BW did not matter
Elford et al[52]	23 children referred for psychiatric assessments	Semi-structured interview	RCT	VC = F2F
Jones et al[53]	30 elderly patients	BPRS	Non-RCT	Reliability better for objective than subjective items; BW did not matter
Yoshino et al[54]	42 adult inpatients with chronic schizophrenia	BPRS	Non-RCT	Reliability low with narrow BW
Grob et al[55]	27 elderly nursing home residents	BPRS, MMSE, GDS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Bishop et al[56]	24 adult psychiatric patients	CSQ	RCT	VC = F2F on patient satisfaction
Guilfoyle et al[57]	12 elderly nursing home residents	Health assessments	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Loh et al[58]	20 elderly psychiatric patients	MMSE, GDS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Kobak[59]	42 patients with mood disorders	HAM-D	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Poon et al[60]	22 community-dwelling elderly with mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment	MMSE, RBMT, HDS	RCT	VC = F2F
Cullum et al[61]	33 elderly with mild cognitive impairment or dementia	Neuropsychological battery	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Lexcen et al[62]	72 adult psychiartric patients in forensic settings	BPRS, Mac CAT-CA	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Loh et al[63]	20 elderly patients with dementia	MMSE, GDS and other scales	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Martin-Khan et al[64]	42 patients over 50 yr referred for cognitive assessment	Neuropsychological battery	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Singh et al[65]	37 adult patients with psychiatric disorders	DSM-IV	RCT	VC = F2F
Shore et al[66]	53 male American Indian veterans with psychiatric disorders	SCID	RCT	VC = F2F
Manguno-Mire et al[67]	21 inpatients from a forensic psychiatric facility	GCCT-MSH	RCT	VC = F2F
Kobak et al[68]	35 adult patients with mood disorders	MADRS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
McEachern et al[69]	71 elderly patients from a memory clinic	MMSE	RCT	VC = F2F
Ciemins et al[70]	73 elderly patients with diabetes	MMSE	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Porcari et al[71]	20 male veterans with PTSD	CAPS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Thompson et al[72]	138 transplant recipients receiving follow-up	CES-D	RCT	VC = F2F
Morgan et al[73]	169 elderly from a memory clinic	Satisfaction assessment	RCT	Similar satisfaction with both methods
Stain et al[74]	11 adolescents/young adults (14-30 yr) with early psychosis	Diagnosis, quality of life, neurocognition on standardized scales	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Bui[75]	30 undergraduates with subclinical OC symptoms	YBOCS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Martin-Khan et al[76]	205 patients over 50 yr referred for cognitive assessment	Neuropsychological battery	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Wong et al[77]	42 elderly psychiatric inpatients	RUDAS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F
Seidel et al[78]	73 adult psychiatric patients in emergency settings	Interview	RCT	VC = F2F
Litwack et al[79]	75 veterans with PTSD	CAPS	Non-RCT	VC = F2F

F2F: Face to face or in-person assessment; VC: Videoconferencing; BW: Bandwidth; RCT: Randomized controlled trial (i.e., a study in which patients were randomly assigned to VC or F2F assessment); OCD: Obsessive compulsive disorder; PTSD: Posttraumatic stress disorder; YBOCS: Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale; HAM-D: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression; HAM-A: Hamilton Rating Scale for Anxiety; BPRS: Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; SANS: Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms; SAPS: Scale for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms; SCID: Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R; MMSE: Mini-Mental State Examination; GDS: Geriatric Depression Scale; RBMT: Rivermead Behavioural Memory test; HDS: Hierarchic Dementia Scale; CSQ: Client Satisfaction Questionnaire; CFT: Clock Face Test; RUDAS: Rowland Universal Dementia Assessment Scale; CAPS: Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale; MADRS: Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale; Mac CAT-CA: MacArthur Competence Assessment Tool-Criminal Adjudication; CES-D: Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression; GCCT-MSH: Georgia Court Competency Test-Mississippi State Hospital revision.