Newswise — Therapy by videoconference may be as effective, and in some cases more effective, than in-person treatment for alcohol use disorder. Rates of stopping drinking are similar for those who receive treatment for their alcohol use disorder via videoconference and those who receive in-person treatment. A study comparing in-person to videoconference treatment for alcohol use disorder published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research found that health measures improved after treatment via either modality, and any differences in treatment measures showed videoconferencing to be superior to in-person therapy.
Researchers compared pre- and post-treatment questionnaires of people treated for alcohol use disorder from 2019 to 2021 at a large clinic in the Netherlands. Participants were categorized into three groups: people who received treatment mostly in person before the pandemic, those who began treatment in person before the pandemic then transitioned to videoconference therapy after COVID-19 restrictions were enacted in March 2020, and those who began and continued treatment via videoconference after March 2020.
People treated by videoconference and those treated in person both reduced their alcohol use and improved their mental health and quality of life following treatment. Those treated by videoconference stayed in treatment longer and drank less on average at the end of treatment than those treated in person. Following treatment, 82 percent of the in-person group had stopped drinking or were drinking at low-risk levels, compared to 84 percent in the group that transitioned to videoconferencing partway through treatment and 85 percent in the videoconference group. The group receiving in-person treatment had an average of 34 treatment sessions, compared to 58 sessions for the partially videoconferencing group and 48 sessions for the fully videoconferencing group.
Surprisingly, treatment effectiveness did not appear to be diminished by the unique challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in the unplanned transition to videoconference therapy, including technical issues and a lack of familiarity among therapists and patients with the videoconferencing platform early in the pandemic. Likewise, although the pandemic and government restrictions may have affected other aspects of the study, such as the drinking behaviors and mental health of study participants, rates of abstinence and mental health outcomes improved among all groups.
This study supports the effectiveness of videoconference treatment for alcohol use disorder, a disorder that remains largely untreated. Prior studies have shown patients are generally satisfied with telehealth treatment, which includes videoconferencing. Telehealth may be more cost-effective than traditional in-person therapy and may improve access to treatment for people who face obstacles such as a lack of transportation or nearby therapists.
Video conferencing treatment during COVID-19 social distancing measures versus in-person therapy: A non-inferiority comparison of three cohorts. E. de Beurs, C. Rademacher, M. Blankers, J. Peen, J. Dekker, A. Goudriaan
ACER-23-5618.R2
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