Table 1.
Published studies of telemental health in the Middle East.
| Country | Mode of telemental health | N | RCT | Study description | Clinical outcome | Findings | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wagner et al. (12) | Iraq | Internet-based, asynchronous | 15 | N | “Interapy”; asynchronous writing assignments and interactions between patients with PTSD and therapists | PDS, HSCL-25, quality of life | Significant improvement of clinical outcomes |
| Wagner et al. (13) | Iraq | Internet-based, asynchronous | 55 | Y | CBT | WAI, PDS | Positive online relationship, symptom improvement |
| Werner (14) | Israel | N/A | 1204 | N/A | Theoretical attitudes assessment towards telemental health | N/A | Moderate willingness to use telemental health |
| Modai et al. (9) | Israel | Videoconferencing | 66 | Y | Videoconferencing vs. face-to-face psychiatric treatments | Cost analysis, treatment adherence, clinical safety (BPRS, CGI), patients’ and therapists’ satisfaction | More adherence in VC group, similar satisfaction between the groups, VC group had higher costs compared to face-to-facer |
| Aviv (6) | Israel | Telephone-based | 12 | N | Treatment of adolescents who have school refusal with telehypnosis | School attendance | Improved school attendance in the majority of participants |
| Ozkan et al. (10) | Turkey | Telephone-based | 62 | Y | Family intervention; psychoeducation inpatient followed by telepsychiatric follow-up (via telephone) after discharge | The level of expressed emotion scale, Zarit family burden scale, and Beck depression scale | Significant improvement on all scales in intervention group compared to control |
| Mazhari and Bahaedin Beigi (5) | Iran | N/A | N/A | N/A | Description of the challenges facing telemental health implementation in Iran | N/A | Telemental health is not implemented in Iran. Some of the barriers are financial, technical, and concerns about confidentiality |
| Deldar et al. (7) | Iran | Internet-based | 420 | N/A | Content evaluation of ask-a-doctor website | N/A | The most frequent questions were of mental health and women’s health |
| Jefee-Bahloul (8) | Jordan (Syrian refugees) | Videoconferencing | N/A | N | Videoconferencing-based telemental health supervision of mental health treatments in a conflict setting | N/A | Telemental health can be useful for supervision, and consultations to mental health providers in conflict areas |
| Jefee-Bahloul (15) | Turkey (Syrian refugees) | N/A | 354 | N | Theoretical attitudes towards telemental health in a sample of Syrian refugees in Turkey | HAD stress | Despite prevalence of psychological stress there is a partial hesitance towards telemental health in this sample |
| Quackenbush and Krasner (11) | Middle East | Internet-based, virtual-reality | 1 | N | Psychotherapy provided in the “second life” virtual environment by text-messaging between two avatars (client and therapist) | N/A | Demonstration of feasibility of virtual-therapy |
N, number of participants in the study if applicable; RCT, randomized controlled trial; N/A, not applicable; PDS, posttraumatic diagnostic scale; HSCL-25, Hopkins symptom checklist-25; WAI, work alliance inventory; BPRS, brief psychiatric rating scale; CGI, clinical global impression scale; VC, videoconferencing.