Researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Reduce Limitations from Anxiety (RELAX) trial have found telehealth to be effective treating patients with panic and anxiety disorders.

Published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, the study used a telephone-delivered collaborative care program to improve the quality of life and symptoms of anxiety. Of 329 total participants, 250 were classified as “highly anxious” and further split into one group that received the telehealth service or visits their primary care physicians while the remaining 79 “moderately anxious” participants were placed into a watchful waiting group and later entered the mix as anxiety levels rose.

Each telehealth visit included a care manager asking a patient for basic psycho-education, encouraging healthy habits, going over treatment plans for anti-anxiety medications and informing the primary care physician on their progress. After 12 months, researchers concluded that the telehealth services were more effective in treating anxiety than visiting the physician. Anxiety symptoms fell for 53 percent of telehealth patients compared to 32 percent of patients in the control group. Quality of life and panic and mood symptoms also fell, with these benefits lasting another 12 months after the study ended.

"While dozens of clinical trials have demonstrated the effectiveness of collaborative care for treating depression in primary care, comparatively few have addressed anxiety, despite their similar prevalence and adverse impact on health-related quality of life and excess utilization of health services," said Bruce L. Rollman, MD, MPH, professor of medicine and director of Pitt's Center for Behavioral Health and Smart Technology. "Effective collaborative care for anxiety can be provided via telephone by college-educated, non-mental health care managers who follow an evidence-based treatment algorithm and work under the direction of a primary care physician."