Management of Follow-Up With Preterm Infants During the Outbreak in China.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) swept Wuhan in January 2020. Other cities in China also suffered during the pandemic. Routine medical services were conducted in the Neonatal Intensive Unit (NICU) as usual, but the follow-up after discharge was seriously affected. To investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of a combination of online and face-to-face follow-up for preterm infants during the COVID-19 epidemic and to explore a follow-up pattern that can provide follow-up services while maximizing the protection of preterm infants and soothing the fear of their parents. Preterm infants ( = 35) whose first follow-up appointment was scheduled from February 1 to April 30, 2020, and preterm infants ( = 43) in the NICU follow-up group who were discharged from January 1, 2018, to January 31, 2020, who had a second or later routine follow-up appointment scheduled from February 1 to April 30, 2020, were enrolled. We provided a combination of online and face-to-face follow-up for preterm infants surveyed with the Wenjuanxing platform before and after the online follow-up and compared the first-time follow-up rate between the outbreak and the same period of the previous year. Feeding and oral medicine and supplements were the most concerning problems of the parents of preterm infants. The anxiety level of the family was significantly decreased after online follow-up ( < 0.05). A total of 96.8% of parents were satisfied or very satisfied with online follow-up, and 95.2% of parents thought that online follow-up had answered all their questions. Only 35.5% of parents thought online follow-up could replace face-to-face follow-up. The combination of online and face-to-face follow-up alleviated the anxiety of the parents during the outbreak and achieved a similar first-time follow-up rate as the same period in 2019.