Provision of Psychotherapy during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Czech, German and Slovak Psychotherapists

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F61989592%3A15260%2F20%3A73603421" target="_blank" >RIV/61989592:15260/20:73603421 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4811/htm" target="_blank" >https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/13/4811/htm</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17134811" target="_blank" >10.3390/ijerph17134811</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Provision of Psychotherapy during the COVID-19 Pandemic among Czech, German and Slovak Psychotherapists

Original language description

Psychotherapists around the world are facing an unprecedented situation with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To combat the rapid spread of the virus, direct contact with others has to be avoided when possible. Therefore, remote psychotherapy provides a valuable option to continue mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigated the fear of psychotherapists to become infected with COVID-19 during psychotherapy in personal contact and assessed how the provision of psychotherapy changed due to the COVID-19 situation and whether there were differences with regard to country and gender. Psychotherapists from three European countries: Czech Republic (CZ,n= 112), Germany (DE,n= 130) and Slovakia (SK,n= 96), with on average 77.8% female participants, completed an online survey. Participants rated the fear of COVID-19 infection during face-to-face psychotherapy and reported the number of patients treated on average per week (in personal contact, via telephone, via internet) during the COVID-19 situation as well as (retrospectively) in the months before. Fear of COVID-19 infection was highest in SK and lowest in DE (p&lt; 0.001) and was higher in female compared to male psychotherapists (p= 0.021). In all countries, the number of patients treated on average per week in personal contact decreased (p&lt; 0.001) and remote psychotherapies increased (p&lt; 0.001), with more patients being treated via internet than via telephone during the COVID-19 situation (p&lt; 0.001). Furthermore, female psychotherapists treated less patients in personal contact (p= 0.036), while they treated more patients via telephone than their male colleagues (p= 0.015). Overall, the total number of patients treated did not differ during COVID-19 from the months before (p= 0.133) and psychotherapy in personal contact remained the most common treatment modality. Results imply that the supply of mental health care could be maintained during COVID-19 and that changes in the provision of psychotherapy vary among countries and gender.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

30304 - Public and environmental health

Project

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Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

ISSN

1661-7827

e-ISSN

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Volume of the periodical

17

Issue of the periodical within the volume

13

Country of publishing house

CH - SWITZERLAND

Number of pages

15

Pages from-to

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UT code for WoS article

000550301300001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85087414799