Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy Staff Publications
Publication Date
7-1-2022
Journal
Psychiatry Research
DOI
10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114610
PMID
35567851
PMCID
PMC9910090
PubMedCentral® Posted Date
7-1-2023
PubMedCentral® Full Text Version
Author MSS
Published Open-Access
yes
Keywords
Adolescent, Adult, Aged, COVID-19, Humans, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Pandemics, Telemedicine, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult, OCD, Telehealth, Exposure and response prevention, Treatment, Psychotherapy
Abstract
Until recently, psychotherapies, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), have primarily been delivered in-person. The COVID-19 pandemic required OCD providers delivering ERP to quickly transition to telehealth services. While evidence supports telehealth ERP delivery, limited research has examined OCD provider perceptions about patient characteristics that are most appropriate for this modality, as well as provider abilities to identify and address factors interfering with effective telehealth ERP. In the present study, OCD therapists (N = 113) rated the feasibility of delivering telehealth ERP relative to in-person for different (1) patient age-groups, (2) levels of OCD severity, and (3) provider ability to identify and address factors interfering with ERP during in-person and telehealth ERP (e.g., cognitive avoidance, reassurance seeking, etc.). Providers reported significantly greater feasibility of delivering telehealth ERP to individuals ages 13-to-65-years relative to other age groups assessed. Greater perceived feasibility for telehealth relative to in-person ERP was reported for lower versus higher symptom severity levels. Lastly, providers felt better able to identify and address problematic factors in-person. These findings suggest that providers should practice appropriate caution when offering telehealth ERP for certain patients with OCD. Future research may examine how to address these potential limitations of telehealth ERP delivery.