Department of Paediatrics, Aravind Eye Hospital and Post Graduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Department of Glaucoma, Aravind Eye Hospital and Post Graduate Institute of Ophthalmology, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India.
Indian J Ophthalmol. 2021 Mar;69(3):714-718. doi: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_2935_20.
The aim of this study was to describe the experience of teleconsultations addressed at our hospital in India during the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown.
This cross-sectional hospital-based study included 977 teleconsultations presenting between April 1st and May 31, 2020. A two-level protocol was implemented to triage the calls.
Overall, 977 teleconsultation were addressed. Of the 621 teleconsultation addressed the most common queries were related to redness/pain/ watering/blurred vision/itching/irritation (52.49%), followed by queries related to medications (28.01%), appointments (18.84%) & 0.64% cited an emergency need to visit the hospital due to sudden loss of vision. The majority of the queries were directed to the department of cornea (58.93%) followed by retina (16.26%), cataract (13.04%), glaucoma (10.14%) & pediatric ophthalmology (1.61%). The most common advice given to the patient was related to medications (47.66%) followed by appointment-related queries (31.72%) & fixing of surgical appointment (20.61%). Among the 356 preterm babies that were screened, 57 (16.01%) were diagnosed with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Of them 3 required laser and 3 were given injection.
Teleconsultation is here to stay beyond the pandemic. WhatsApp was the preferred modality of communication for us. Teleophthalmology has given us insights to use this evolving technology to reach out to the population at large to provide eye care services. We believe that this mode of teleophthalmology has helped us in providing feasible eye care to the patients.
本研究旨在描述在印度进行的冠状病毒（COVID-19）封锁期间我们医院的远程咨询经验。
本横断面医院研究纳入了 2020 年 4 月 1 日至 5 月 31 日期间的 977 例远程咨询。采用两级方案对电话进行分诊。
共进行了 977 例远程咨询。621 例远程咨询中最常见的问题是与发红/疼痛/流泪/视力模糊/瘙痒/刺激（52.49%）相关，其次是与药物（28.01%）、预约（18.84%）相关，0.64%的患者因突然视力丧失需要紧急去医院就诊。大多数咨询是向角膜科（58.93%），其次是视网膜科（16.26%）、白内障科（13.04%）、青光眼科（10.14%）和小儿眼科（1.61%）。向患者提供的最常见建议与药物有关（47.66%），其次是与预约有关的咨询（31.72%）和安排手术预约（20.61%）。在筛查的 356 名早产儿中，57 名（16.01%）被诊断为早产儿视网膜病变（ROP）。其中 3 例需要激光治疗，3 例需要注射。
远程咨询将在大流行后继续存在。我们首选的沟通方式是 WhatsApp。远程眼科为我们提供了深入了解，使我们能够利用这一不断发展的技术为广大民众提供眼保健服务。我们相信这种远程眼科模式有助于我们为患者提供可行的眼保健。
