‘Virtual Psychiatrist’ Telemedicine Decision Support System Effective In Diagnosing Mental Disorders

A telemedicine clinical decision support system (CDSS) developed in India for use by non-psychiatrists in rural areas was able to diagnose mental health disorders with good validity and reliability. The CDSS had high sensitivity, meaning that it was able to identify nearly all of those with one of the 18 mental health disorders included in the CDSS. There were a high number of false positives, but few false negatives.

These findings were reported in “Telepsychiatry clinical decision support system used by non-psychiatrists in remote areas: Validity and reliability of diagnostic module” by Savita Malhotra, Subho Chakrabarti, Ruchita Shah . . .