Effectiveness of Telehealth Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Protocol for a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract Background: Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a highly prevalent, chronic, costly and disabling mental disorder. However, due to various reasons, patients are not treated effectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when face-to-face intervention is limited to a certain extent, researchers have highlighted the need for evidence-based interventions that can be delivered remotely, such as telehealth mediated acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).Methods/design: We will systematically search PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, EBSCO (MEDLINE, Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection), Web of Science, CNKI, and WanFang Database for randomized controlled trials examining telehealth acceptance and commitment therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. The Cochrane Collaboration's bias assessment tool will be used to evaluate the risk of bias for the included studies, RevMan 5.3 and Stata 14.0 will be utilized for the meta-analysis.Discussion: This study will provide evidence for evaluating the efficacy of telehealth acceptance and commitment therapy for generalized anxiety disorder treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. All of these results may be used to improve clinical decision-making and future studies.Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42021255909.