Labiris G, Fanariotis M, Christoulakis C, Petounis A, Kitsos G, Aspiotis M, Psillas K
Intermedico Network, Division of Medical Informatics, Athens, Greece.
J Telemed Telecare. 2003;9(5):296-9. doi: 10.1258/135763303769211337.
We evaluated the quality of medical services delivered to remote glaucoma patients from a mobile unit. A four-wheel-drive vehicle containing the necessary equipment visited five different remote locations in Greece. During a three-year prospective study, 1205 patients were examined, of whom 230 had glaucoma. The majority of the subjects were examined by the unit's medical staff using the available instrumentation (e.g. slit-lamp and tonometer), while 56 glaucoma subjects were telemedically examined by consultants at the Patissia General Hospital, in Athens. Control data were obtained from a random sample of 260 urban glaucoma patients. A significantly greater proportion of the remote patients had an inadequate awareness of glaucoma (77%) compared with the urban patients (20%). Significantly more remote patients had poorer compliance (68%) in comparison with urban patients (23%). A significantly larger proportion of the remote patients had high intra-ocular pressure (21%) compared with the urban patients (5%). Technical difficulties occurred in the 13 of the 56 telemedical examinations. Mobile medical units can enhance access to medical services and contribute to the health-care of under-served populations.
我们评估了从一个移动医疗单元为偏远地区青光眼患者提供的医疗服务质量。一辆配备了必要设备的四轮驱动车辆走访了希腊五个不同的偏远地区。在一项为期三年的前瞻性研究中，对1205名患者进行了检查，其中230人患有青光眼。大多数受试者由该单元的医务人员使用现有的仪器设备（如裂隙灯和眼压计）进行检查，而56名青光眼受试者通过远程医疗由雅典帕蒂西亚综合医院的顾问进行检查。对照数据取自260名城市青光眼患者的随机样本。与城市患者（20%）相比，偏远地区患者中对青光眼认识不足的比例显著更高（77%）。与城市患者（23%）相比，偏远地区患者中依从性较差的比例明显更高（68%）。与城市患者（5%）相比，偏远地区患者中眼压高的比例显著更高（21%）。在56次远程医疗检查中有13次出现了技术困难。移动医疗单元可以增加医疗服务的可及性，并有助于为服务不足的人群提供医疗保健。
