Regarding the impact of incorporating online medical care into psychiatric treatment such as depression and anxiety, a group such as Keio University announced the results of a study that showed that the treatment effect was equivalent to that of face-to-face treatment.
This research was published in an international medical journal by a group led by Project Professor Taishiro Kishimoto of Keio University School of Medicine.
The group divided 19 patients with depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder who went to psychiatric clinics at 199 medical institutions nationwide into two groups: one that examined patients face-to-face only, and another group that conducted more than half of the consultations online, and provided medical care for six months.
And when they looked at it using international indicators to measure the mental health of patients, they found no difference between the two groups.
In addition, we examined in detail the severity of symptoms for each disease and patient satisfaction, but there was no difference between face-to-face and online consultations.
For this reason, the group has found that the treatment effect of these diseases is as effective as face-to-face medical care even if online medical consultation is introduced.
Project Professor Kishimoto said, "There are many patients who cannot go to the psychiatric clinic for fear of discrimination and prejudice, and I hope that the results of this study will make online medical consultations more widespread and patients will be able to choose them as an option."