Telemedicine helps improve overall mental health of pregnant women

A new study by Ulrike Stentzel and team found significantly improved mental health outcomes in expectant moms and new mothers who are receiving telemedicine treatments. The findings of this study were published in BMC Psychiatry.

Women are more likely to experience depression and other mental health issues during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The foetus might possibly suffer from this. As a result, low-barrier interventions with care are required. Interventions in telemedicine are a viable strategy to deal with these problems. The effectiveness of telemedicine therapies for expecting moms and/or new mothers to address outcomes linked to mental health was explored in this comprehensive literature review. The main goal was to determine whether telemedicine therapies might help pregnant women and new moms with their mental health issues. Clarifying the influence of intervention kind, frequency, and aims was the secondary goal.

Randomized controlled trials that involve telemedicine interventions of any kind (websites, chats, apps, telephone) and address any mental health-related outcomes, such as depression, postnatal depression, anxiety, stress, and others, with participants who are pregnant women and/or new mothers (with infants up to twelve months) are included. Pregnant women, new moms, telemedicine, RCT, mental stress, as well as various synonyms and medical subject headings, were used as search phrases. The databases Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, and PsycINFO were used for the literature search. Two researchers used the web programme CADIMA to accomplish the PRISMA-recommended screening, inclusion of records, and data extraction.

The key findings of this study were:

1. There were 44 articles total. The majority (62%) claimed that individuals who received telemedicine therapies experienced considerably better mental health-related results than the control group.

2. In particular, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (provided through the internet) was effective for treating depression and stress, and social support enhanced results for treating postpartum depression and anxiety.

3. Both preventative therapies and symptom-reduction strategies were generally successful. The majority of the time, there was little to no improvement in the symptoms of anxiety.

The majority of the telemedicine therapies assessed in RCTs were effective. There is no one-size-fits-all strategy, thus they must be created to particularly address a certain mental health condition. In terms of delivery methods, content, target approaches, and other factors, more study should concentrate on identifying which particular treatments are suitable for different mental health outcomes. Additional research is required, particularly in relation to anxiety.

Reference: 

Stentzel, U., Grabe, H. J., Schmidt, S., Tomczyk, S., van den Berg, N., & Beyer, A. (2023). Mental health-related telemedicine interventions for pregnant women and new mothers: a systematic literature review. In BMC Psychiatry (Vol. 23, Issue 1). Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-023-04790-0