Raizada Sabrina R, Cleaton Natasha, Bateman James, Mulherin Diarmuid M, Barkham Nick
Rheumatology Department, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton, UK.
Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2020 Dec 16;5(1):rkaa071. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkaa071. eCollection 2021.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, face-to-face rheumatology follow-up appointments were mostly replaced with telephone or virtual consultations in order to protect vulnerable patients. We aimed to investigate the perspectives of rheumatology patients on the use of telephone consultations compared with the traditional face-to-face consultation.
We carried out a retrospective survey of all rheumatology follow-up patients at the Royal Wolverhampton Trust who had received a telephone consultation from a rheumatology consultant during a 4-week period via an online survey tool.
Surveys were distributed to 1213 patients, of whom 336 (27.7%) responded, and 306 (91.1%) patients completed all components of the survey. Overall, an equal number of patients would prefer telephone clinics or face-to-face consultations for their next routine appointment. When divided by age group, the majority who preferred the telephone clinics were <50 years old [χ (d.f. = 3) = 10.075, = 0.018]. Prevalence of a smartphone was higher among younger patients (<50 years old: 46 of 47, 97.9%) than among older patients (≥50 years old: 209 of 259, 80.7%) [χ (d.f. = 3) = 20.919, < 0.001]. More patients reported that they would prefer a telephone call for urgent advice (168, 54.9%).
Most patients interviewed were happy with their routine face-to-face appointment being switched to a telephone consultation. Of those interviewed, patients >50 years old were less likely than their younger counterparts to want telephone consultations in place of face-to-face appointments. Most patients in our study would prefer a telephone consultation for urgent advice. We must ensure that older patients and those in vulnerable groups who value in-person contact are not excluded. Telephone clinics in some form are here to stay in rheumatology for the foreseeable future.
在新冠疫情期间，为保护易感染患者，面对面的风湿病随访预约大多被电话或虚拟会诊所取代。我们旨在调查风湿病患者对于使用电话会诊相较于传统面对面会诊的看法。
我们通过在线调查工具，对皇家伍尔弗汉普顿信托基金的所有风湿病随访患者进行了一项回顾性调查，这些患者在为期4周的时间内接受了风湿病顾问的电话会诊。
共向1213名患者发放了调查问卷，其中336名（27.7%）做出了回应，306名（91.1%）患者完成了调查问卷的所有部分。总体而言，在下次常规预约中，希望选择电话门诊或面对面会诊的患者数量相同。按年龄组划分，倾向于电话门诊的大多数患者年龄小于50岁[χ（自由度 = 3）= 10.075，P = 0.018]。年轻患者（<50岁：47人中有46人，97.9%）中智能手机的普及率高于老年患者（≥50岁：259人中有209人，80.7%）[χ（自由度 = 3）= 20.919，P < 0.001]。更多患者表示他们更希望通过电话获得紧急建议（168人，54.9%）。
大多数接受采访的患者对将他们的常规面对面预约改为电话会诊感到满意。在接受采访的患者中，50岁以上的患者比年轻患者更不愿意选择电话会诊来代替面对面预约。我们研究中的大多数患者更希望通过电话会诊获得紧急建议。我们必须确保不排除老年患者和那些重视面对面接触的弱势群体。在可预见的未来，某种形式的电话门诊将在风湿病领域继续存在。
