Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Mental Health
Date Submitted: Jan 7, 2022
Open Peer Review Period: Jan 7, 2022 - Mar 4, 2022
Date Accepted: Feb 4, 2022
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Telehealth Services for Substance Use Disorders: A 3-month Longitudinal Assessment of Intensive Outpatient Programming and Data Collection Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic
ABSTRACT
Background:
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid transition of many types of substance use disorder (SUD) treatment to telehealth formats, despite limited information about what makes treatment effective in this novel format.
Objective:
To examine the feasibility and effectiveness of virtual intensive outpatient program (IOP) treatment for SUD in the context of a global pandemic, while considering the unique challenges posed to data collection during an unprecedented public health crisis.
Methods:
The study is based on a longitudinal study with a baseline sample of 3,642 patients who enrolled in intensive outpatient addiction treatment (in-person, hybrid, or virtual) from January 2020 to March 2021 at a large substance use treatment center in the United States. The analytical sample consisted of patients who completed the 3-month post-discharge outcome survey as part of routine outcome monitoring (n = 1,060) (response rate = 29%).
Results:
No significant differences were detected by delivery format in continuous abstinence (χ2 = 0.42, P = .81), overall quality of life (F(2,826) = 2.06, P = .13), financial well-being (F(2,767) = 2.30, P = .10), psychological well-being (F(2,918) = 0.72, P = .49), and confidence in one’s ability to stay sober (F(2,941) = 0.21, P = .81). Individuals in hybrid programming were more likely to report a higher level of general health than those in virtual IOP (F(2,917) = 4.19, P = .01).
Conclusions:
Virtual outpatient care for the treatment of SUDs is a feasible alternative to in-person only programming leading to similar self-reported outcomes at 3-months post-discharge. Given the many obstacles presented throughout data collection during a pandemic, further research is needed to better understand under what conditions telehealth is an acceptable alternative to in-person care.
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Copyright
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