Dataset Information

Health System-Level Evaluation of Tele-Mental Health Services Among Children and Adolescents in Ontario, Canada.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To describe the characteristics of children and adolescents receiving tele-mental health services in Ontario, Canada and examine access to a psychiatrist, in-person or via tele-mental health services, following a mental health and addictions (MHA)-related emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization.

Method

Using linked health and administrative data, we described two cohorts: (1) children and adolescents (1-18 years) who used a provincial tele-mental health programme from January 1, 2013 to March 31, 2017, comparing their MHA-related service use (outpatient, ED, hospitalization) in the 1 year prior to and the 1 year following initial consultation; (2) children and adolescents with high mental health service needs, defined as those with an incident MHA-related ED visit or hospitalization between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2016, examining their 1-year follow-up with telemedicine and other health care utilization.

Results

In the first cohort, 7,216 children and adolescents (mean age 11.8 [±3.8] years) received tele-mental health services. The proportion of MHA-related ED visits [15.1% pre vs. 12.6% post (test statistic 23.57, P < 0.001)] or hospitalizations [10.2% pre vs. 8.7% post (test statistic 11.96, P < 0.001)] declined in the year following tele-mental health consultation, while local psychiatry visits increased [8.4% pre vs. 17.0% post (test statistic 298.69, P < 0.001)]. In the second cohort (n = 84,033), only 1.5% received tele-mental health services, 40.7% saw a psychiatrist in-person, and 32.5% received no MHA-related outpatient care in follow-up.

Conclusions

Tele-mental health services were rarely used in Ontario, even among high-needs children and adolescents, despite their association with increased access to care and less need for acute mental health care.

SUBMITTER: Toulany A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9149526 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Health System-Level Evaluation of Tele-Mental Health Services Among Children and Adolescents in Ontario, Canada.

Toulany Alene A Kurdyak Paul P Gandhi Sima S Fu Longdi L Grewal Seena S Kulkarni Chetana C Saunders Natasha N Vigod Simone S Guttmann Astrid A Chiu Maria M Pignatiello Antonio A

Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie 20210927 6

<h4>Objective</h4>To describe the characteristics of children and adolescents receiving tele-mental health services in Ontario, Canada and examine access to a psychiatrist, in-person or via tele-mental health services, following a mental health and addictions (MHA)-related emergency department (ED) visit or hospitalization.<h4>Method</h4>Using linked health and administrative data, we described two cohorts: (1) children and adolescents (1-18 years) who used a provincial tele-mental health progra ...[more]

PMID: 34569295

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Dataset Information

Health System-Level Evaluation of Tele-Mental Health Services Among Children and Adolescents in Ontario, Canada.

Objective

Method

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Health System-Level Evaluation of Tele-Mental Health Services Among Children and Adolescents in Ontario, Canada.

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