• Dawn M Bellanti, Marija S Kelber, Don E Workman, Erin H Beech, and Brad E Belsher.
• Psychological Health Center of Excellence (PHCoE), Research Branch, Research & Development Division (J-9), Defense Health Agency, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA.
• Mil Med. 2022 May 3; 187 (5-6): e577-e588.

IntroductionThe Psychological Health Center of Excellence conducted a rapid review of the literature to investigate the effectiveness of behavioral health treatments (i.e., evidence-based psychotherapy and psychiatry) delivered in person compared to telehealth (TH; i.e., video teleconference and telephone).Materials And MethodsThe rapid review methods included a systematic search of a single database (PubMed), hand-searching of relevant systematic reviews, dual screening, single-person data abstraction verified by a second person, and dual risk of bias assessment. Due to heterogeneity across studies, no quantitative analyses were conducted.ResultsTwenty-two randomized controlled trials (RCTs), eight of which were non-inferiority trials, evaluated the effectiveness of TH via telephone or video teleconferencing compared to in-person (IP) delivery for patient populations with posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and mixed diagnoses. The majority of RCTs and all but one of the eight non-inferiority trials found that clinical outcomes did not differ between TH and IP treatment delivery. Two studies found that subgroups with higher symptom severity (hopelessness and anxiety disorders, respectively) in the TH group had worse treatment-related outcomes than IP participants with similar symptom profiles. The majority of studies found no significant differences in satisfaction with care, quality of the therapeutic alliance, or study discontinuation between TH and IP groups.ConclusionBased on evidence from 22 RCTs, the use of TH platforms, including video conference and telephone modalities, generally produces similar outcomes as face-to-face provision of psychotherapy and psychiatry services.Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States 2021. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

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