Department of Neurosurgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India,, India.
Neurol India. 2021 Mar-Apr;69(2):344-351. doi: 10.4103/0028-3886.314523.
Teleconsultation services in India, especially in neurosurgery, are relatively new. Despite its large-scale adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic, comprehensive analyses of patients' perspectives and hurdles are lacking.
We conducted an anonymized telephonic survey of consecutive neurosurgical patients who availed telemedicine services at our institute, using a validated, structured questionnaire. To prevent bias, interviewers were not involved in the study design/analyses. Patients' perception of usefulness and performance of teleconsultation was graded on a 5-point Likert scale.
Of the 330 patients who availed teleconsultation services, 231 (70%) completed the survey. Even though 91% of the respondents had access to a smartphone, only 10% received a video-based teleconsult. As per respondents, the challenges included poor network (7%), suboptimal communication/discussion (5.6%), lack of physical examination (6%), and misinterpretation of prescription by pharmacists/patients (6%). The majority of the respondents (58%) either agreed/strongly agreed that teleconsultation helped them tide over the medical exigency during the lockdown; however, the clinical diagnosis did not influence this response (P = 0.21). The vast majority of the respondents felt that teleconsultation is beneficial (97%), as it minimizes their exposure to COVID-19. One-third of the patients preferred this service over physical visits and 60% agreed to its continuation till resumption of routine care. Access to video-teleconsultation was the chief suggestion in 39 of 74 suggestions received.
Telemedicine in neurosurgery offers favorable patient satisfaction during this pandemic and may be a satisfactory alternative to physical outpatient services in the future. Video-based teleconsults should be the preferred modality of communication for neurosurgery patients.
印度的远程咨询服务，尤其是神经外科的远程咨询服务，相对较新。尽管在 COVID-19 大流行期间大规模采用，但缺乏对患者观点和障碍的全面分析。
我们对在我院使用远程医疗服务的连续神经外科患者进行了匿名电话调查，使用了经过验证的结构化问卷。为了防止偏见，访谈者不参与研究设计/分析。患者对远程咨询的有用性和性能的感知被评为 5 分李克特量表。
在接受远程咨询服务的 330 名患者中，有 231 名（70%）完成了调查。尽管 91%的受访者都有智能手机，但只有 10%的人接受了视频远程咨询。根据受访者的说法，挑战包括网络不佳（7%）、沟通/讨论效果不佳（5.6%）、无法进行体检（6%）以及药剂师/患者对处方的误解（6%）。大多数受访者（58%）要么同意/强烈同意远程咨询帮助他们度过了封锁期间的医疗紧急情况；然而，临床诊断并没有影响这种反应（P=0.21）。绝大多数受访者认为远程咨询有益（97%），因为它最大限度地减少了他们接触 COVID-19 的机会。三分之一的患者更喜欢这种服务而不是亲自就诊，60%的患者同意在恢复常规护理之前继续使用。在收到的 74 条建议中，有 39 条建议希望能够获得视频远程咨询服务。
神经外科的远程医疗在这场大流行期间为患者提供了良好的满意度，并且将来可能成为物理门诊服务的满意替代品。视频远程咨询应该是神经外科患者首选的沟通方式。
