Zhou Fengli, Wang Zhouhan, Mai Xiaojun, Liu Xiaoyun, Reid Christopher, Sandover Sally, Zhang Kouxing, Xu Dan
Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China.
J Prim Care Community Health. 2020 Jan-Dec;11:2150132720975517. doi: 10.1177/2150132720975517.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a newly-identified infectious diseases that has rapidly spread throughout the world with rising fatalities with declaration by World Health Organization as the pandemic. Online consultations have been shown to alleviate the pandemic with our study aims to demonstrate whether online consultation can be a solution for acute health crisis. Retrospective analysis of the characteristics of online consultations through two primary care online-consultation platforms during COVID-19 pandemic was performed at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, which led the assessment of COVID-19-symptoms patients in Guangzhou. The 3473 online consultations were divided into pre-pandemic and pandemic period groups with Chi-square test as statistical analysis method. The number of online consultations has increased with diagnosis of upper respiratory tract infection, psychological conditions, COVID-19-related investigations and interventions. The increased online consultations met the increased demand of the relevant clinical services and reduced the overwhelming hospital presentations, thus decreasing the potential COVID-19 spread inside the major tertiary hospital and sparing the resources for acute crisis management. The epidemiology and disease characteristics of online consultations during the pandemic have been demonstrated with identification of the enabling factors and potential barriers in improving online healthcare in China with online consultation model being a durable solution for pandemic in future.
2019年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是一种新发现的传染病，已在全球迅速传播，死亡人数不断上升，世界卫生组织已宣布其为大流行病。在线咨询已被证明有助于缓解这一疫情，我们的研究旨在证明在线咨询是否可以成为应对急性健康危机的一种解决方案。中山大学附属第三医院对COVID-19大流行期间通过两个基层医疗在线咨询平台进行的在线咨询特征进行了回顾性分析，该医院主导了广州地区COVID-19症状患者的评估。将3473次在线咨询分为大流行前和大流行期间两组，采用卡方检验作为统计分析方法。随着上呼吸道感染、心理状况、COVID-19相关检查和干预的诊断，在线咨询数量有所增加。在线咨询数量的增加满足了相关临床服务增加的需求，减少了大量患者前往医院就诊的情况，从而减少了COVID-19在大型三级医院内传播的可能性，并节省了急性危机管理的资源。通过识别中国改善在线医疗保健的促成因素和潜在障碍，展示了大流行期间在线咨询的流行病学和疾病特征，在线咨询模式将成为未来应对大流行的持久解决方案。
