Department of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Disease, Kaplan Medical Center and Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 9190401, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Oct 28;18(21):11309. doi: 10.3390/ijerph182111309.
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light both challenges and unique opportunities regarding type 1 diabetes (T1D) management, including the usage of telemedicine platforms.
This study was conducted in a tertiary hospital diabetes clinic. All consecutive T1D patients during March and June 2021 were asked to fill out a structured anonymous questionnaire that aimed to determine their preference regarding continuous use of a virtual platform.
In total, 126 T1D patients answered the questionnaire, of whom 51% were under the age of 40, half were men, half used insulin pumps, and 69% used continuous glucose monitoring. During the pandemic, the exposure of patients to virtual visits has grown about twofold, from 29% to 53%. Of the respondents, 49% expressed an interest in future usage of a virtual platform, but most of them preferred use in a hybrid manner. We found an association between preference to use telemedicine in the future and younger age, previous virtual platform experience, and confidence in being able to download data.
Our data demonstrate that the COVID-19 experience has led to a growing interest of T1D patients in using the hybrid format of telemedicine. However, we still need to better understand who will benefit most from this platform and assess its cost-effectiveness and organization.
COVID-19 大流行凸显了 1 型糖尿病（T1D）管理方面的挑战和独特机遇，包括远程医疗平台的使用。
本研究在一家三级医院的糖尿病诊所进行。2021 年 3 月至 6 月期间，所有连续的 T1D 患者都被要求填写一份结构合理的匿名问卷，旨在确定他们对持续使用虚拟平台的偏好。
共有 126 名 T1D 患者回答了问卷，其中 51%的年龄在 40 岁以下，一半是男性，一半使用胰岛素泵，69%使用连续血糖监测。在大流行期间，患者接受虚拟就诊的比例增长了近两倍，从 29%增至 53%。在受访者中，49%表示未来有使用虚拟平台的意愿，但大多数人更倾向于混合使用。我们发现，未来使用远程医疗的意愿与年龄较小、之前使用过虚拟平台以及对能够下载数据的信心之间存在关联。
我们的数据表明，COVID-19 大流行经验导致 T1D 患者对使用远程医疗的混合模式产生了浓厚兴趣。然而，我们仍需更好地了解哪些患者将从该平台中获益最大，并评估其成本效益和组织情况。
