Effectiveness of a telehealth program to follow up on patients with advanced cancer. who have anxiety or depression in Udonthani Cancer Hospital
Keywords:
Telemedicine, anxiety and depression, Thai-HADS,Abstract
Advance stage cancer patients in palliative care in 2022 expressed anxiety and depression symptoms, with an average prevalence of 38.23%. After initial counseling, subsequent appointment for evaluations and counseling may be delay, the hospital has developed Telemedicine that demonstrating effectiveness in service; however, its application in providing counseling for patients with mental health issues has not been explored. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of utilizing the telehealth program in comparison on anxiety, depression, and satisfaction scores between the experimental and control groups. Employing a quasi-experimental research design, palliative cancer patients experiencing anxiety or depression received counseling sessions from the Department of Mental Health between March 13 and May 1, 2024, via the Telemedicine Program. Evaluation utilized the Thai Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (Thai HADS) and a Satisfaction Questionnaire, exhibiting a content validity index (CVI) value of 0.93. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, percentage, and statistical tests including the Chi-square test, and independent t-test. The results of the comparison of the differences in general data between the two groups were mostly not different. The results of the mean scores of anxiety and depression showed that the two groups were not different (p=0.538, p=0.864). The mean satisfaction scores of the control group and the experimental group were 3.89±0.32 and 4.54±0.21, respectively. When comparing the mean satisfaction scores, it was found that there was a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). In conclusion, the telemedicine program of Udonthani Cancer Hospital can be used to provide consultation to patients with anxiety or depression, and the results are no different from those of regular consultation. In addition, patients are satisfied with the efficiency in saving time and reducing travel costs. In order to provide more efficient services, there should be a development plan to solve technical problems and improve the internet signal system.
