Italy was the first European country to face up with COVID-19 pandemic, which posed challenges to National Health System (NHS), including the need to adapt mental health services/infrastructures and implement digitalization.

Despite telepsychiatry (ie., delivery of psychiatric care remotely through IT), is extensively used in non-European countries, only during the COVID-19 pandemic, became a convincing alternative to face-to-face modality for many psychiatrists in their clinical practice. Our aim was investigating Italian psychiatrists’ opinion about telepsychiatry.

A questionnaire, disseminated during the third Italian phase, constituted by three sections (socio-demographic, opinions and personal experience about/with telepsychiatry) was build by adapting the 42-item questionnaire by Schubert (2019) and CAMH’s Client Experience Survey from the psychiatrist’s perspective.

90 questionnaires were collected from a sample of 54 women (60%) with an average age of 43(SD=11.4). Mostly were psychiatrists (85.6%) working in NHS (66.7%) with an average working years of 13.7(SD=11.5) and a previous experience in telepsychiatry (71.1%). Overall, participants do not believe that telepsychiatry is comparable with face-to-face modality. A significant positive opinion was reported among younger psychiatrists compared to those more experienced, regarding efficacy, feasibility and mental health access (p<0.05). No significant differences were reported in psychiatrists’ opinion, according to the level of telepsychiatry use in their clinical practice.

Overall, sufficient digital skills and knowledge of technological tools are evident among younger psychiatrists who also appeared to be more prone to implement telepsychiatry in their clinical practice.

No significant relationships.

Despite the high prevalence of substance use disorders, the majority of affected individuals do not seek any medical help or receive treatment targetting mainly symptoms of intoxication, withdrawal or general medical conditions due to chronic use of psychoactive substances. Patients with substance use disorders are more likely to remain undiagnosed regarding other psychiatric illnesses. Electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePRO) provide an easy-to-use instrument for detailed assessment at low economic cost.

To assess patients’ attitude towards self-reporting of symptoms related to substance use, mood, anxiety, quality of sleep, medication intake, social performance, and psychotic symptoms.

Mobile application consisting of seven questionnaires (Mood, Anxiety, Substance Use, Sleep, Medication, Social Activity and Various symptoms) was offered for use to patients with substance use disorder. Enrolled subjects were encouraged to use the app to report their actual condition in accordance with their own willingness and lifestyle.

Throughout the study a total of 1077 completed questionnaires were submitted, of which 193 (17.9%) were on mood, 188 (17.5%) - on substance use, 187 (17.4%) – on sleep, 155 (14.4%) – on anxiety, 139 (12.9%) – on medication intake, 111 (10.3%) – on psychotic symptoms, and 104 (9.7%) – on social performance.

Our research revealed that patients with substance use disorder are likely to share concerns regarding variety of psychiatric symptoms besides these attributed to their primary diagnosis. Implementation of ePROs can be a valuable tool for in-depth assessment and subsequent meeting the needs of such patients.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

Digital mental health interventions and digital psychiatry have been rapidly implemented over the past decade, particularly with the intent to offer a cost-effective solution in those circumstances in which the current mental health services and infrastructure are not able to properly accommodate the patients’ needs. However, mental health workforce is often poorly theoretical/practical trained in digital psychiatry and in delivering remote consultations safely and effectively, not being common to own curricula-specific training requirements in digital psychiatry and skills.

Our aim is evaluating the level of training, knowledge, experience and perception regarding the topic of digital psychiatry in a sample constituted by medical students, psychiatry trainees and early career psychiatrists from WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions (APAC).

A web-based international cross-sectional survey was carried out to specifically investigating digita psychiatry in APAC regions.

An overall lack of theoretical and/or practical training on new digital tools and digital health interventions in psychiatry has been observed. The level of training influences knowledge background, which, in turn, influences young professionals’ perceptions and opinions regarding digital psychiatry and interventions in mental health.

Implementing psychiatry training programs may significantly improve the level of knowledge and use of digital tools in mental healthcare. Moreover, mental health services and infrastructures should be properly adapted to the digital era, considering the overall weak and heterogeneous technical support and equipment, issues of internet connectivity and other administrative related challenges observed in APAC.

No significant relationships.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to the implementation of digital psychiatry (DP) in everyday clinical practice, resulting in the need for a skilled healthcare workforce.

Our purpose was to investigate the level of training, knowledge and expertise of young mental health professionals and medical students in DP, as well as exploring their beliefs and experiences in this field.

An ad hoc cross-sectional survey was designed and administered to Italian medical students, psychiatry trainees, and early career psychiatrists.

Most of the sample declared that the topic of DP was never discussed within their academic training (89.1%), mainly revealing an overall lack of knowledge on DP. Nevertheless, they mostly declared that DP represents a valuable therapeutic tool in mental health (80%) and that the academic background should include a dedicated course/module (54.4%). Moreover, most subjects declared that DP is less effective than in-person interventions (73.2%), despite the emerging evidence that being trained in DP is significantly associated with the belief that digital and in-person interventions are comparable in their effectiveness (p≤0.05).

During the current pandemic, DP represented an ideal response to the need for physical distancing by ensuring the advantage of greater access to care. However, DP interventions are still uncommon, and there remains a certain resistance to their use in mental health care. The lack of formal training during the academic training could be a limiting factor. Therefore, addressing these issues in academic settings could be crucial to spreading this innovative practice also in the post-COVID-19 era.

No significant relationships.

No significant relationships.

Sample size planning (SSP) is vital for efficient studies that yield reliable outcomes. Hence, guidelines, emphasize the importance of SSP. The present study investigates the practice of SSP in current trials for depression.

Seventy-eight randomized controlled trials published between 2013 and 2017 were examined. Impact of study design (e.g. number of randomized conditions) and study context (e.g. funding) on sample size was analyzed using multiple regression.

Overall, sample size during pre-registration, during SSP, and in published articles was highly correlated (r's ≥ 0.887). Simultaneously, only 7–18% of explained variance related to study design (p = 0.055–0.155). This proportion increased to 30–42% by adding study context (p = 0.002–0.005). The median sample size was N = 106, with higher numbers for internet interventions (N = 181; p = 0.021) compared to face-to-face therapy. In total, 59% of studies included SSP, with 28% providing basic determinants and 8–10% providing information for comprehensible SSP. Expected effect sizes exhibited a sharp peak at d = 0.5. Depending on the definition, 10.2–20.4% implemented intense assessment to improve statistical power.

Findings suggest that investigators achieve their determined sample size and pre-registration rates are increasing. During study planning, however, study context appears more important than study design. Study context, therefore, needs to be emphasized in the present discussion, as it can help understand the relatively stable trial numbers of the past decades. Acknowledging this situation, indications exist that digital psychiatry (e.g. Internet interventions or intense assessment) can help to mitigate the challenge of underpowered studies. The article includes a short guide for efficient study planning.