Singla Aditya Kumar, Khosla Divya, Kumar Divyesh, Madan Renu, Goyal Shikha, Kumar Narendra, Kapoor Rakesh
Department of Radiotherapy & Oncology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Regional Cancer Centre, Chandigarh, India.
Niger Med J. 2022 Sep 10;63(1):66-70. doi: 10.60787/NMJ-63-1-132. eCollection 2022 Jan-Feb.
COVID-19 pandemic necessitated to change the normal OPD practices in view of lockdown and to decrease the exposure of patients and health care workers. Hence our institute adopted the telemedicine route to cater to the needs and grievances of patients. In this article we have analysed the impact of telemedicine on gastrointestinal cancer patients in Radiotherapy and Oncology OPD during COVID-19 pandemic.
Retrospective data was extracted from the files of the patients who were seen through telemedicine. Time period for this study was kept from 1 September 2020 to 31st October 2020. Patients with only gastrointestinal malignancies were enrolled in the study. Patients were called telephonically to get their feedback on the telemedicine experience. Every patient completed a set of questionnaires. Physical OPDs were also running simultaneously with appointments made through telemedicine to reduce crowding and maintain social distancing.
In total, data of 157 patients was obtained. Sixty three percent of the patients were from rural background while 37% had urban residence. Median age of the patients was 55 years (range,13-80years). Thirty eight percent patients had stage IV,51.6% had stage III while 8.9% had early-stage malignancies. Sixty percent of the patients had either received or were on radical treatment while 39.5% were taking palliative treatment. Approximately 53% of OPD visits could be avoided with telemedicine. Overall, the experience of telemedicine received an encouraging response with 87.3% of patients responding affirmatively to repeat the telemedicine if given opportunity.
Telemedicine has led to un-interrupted delivery of cancer care, particularly for patients who were on active surveillance and live at remote places from the hospital. Our study demonstrated patient and healthcare staff safety along with the benefits of health care facilities to patients during this period of pandemic, though assessment of long-term impact on patient outcomes and health care systems needs to be done.
鉴于封锁措施以及为减少患者和医护人员的接触，新冠疫情使得常规门诊诊疗方式有必要做出改变。因此，我们研究所采用了远程医疗途径来满足患者的需求并解决他们的诉求。在本文中，我们分析了新冠疫情期间远程医疗对放疗与肿瘤门诊中胃肠道癌症患者的影响。
从通过远程医疗就诊的患者病历中提取回顾性数据。本研究的时间段为2020年9月1日至2020年10月31日。仅纳入患有胃肠道恶性肿瘤的患者。通过电话联系患者以获取他们对远程医疗体验的反馈。每位患者都完成了一组问卷。实体门诊也与通过远程医疗预约的门诊同时进行，以减少人群聚集并保持社交距离。
总共获得了157名患者的数据。63%的患者来自农村地区，37%居住在城市。患者的中位年龄为55岁（范围为13 - 80岁）。38%的患者处于IV期，51.6%处于III期，8.9%患有早期恶性肿瘤。60%的患者已经接受或正在接受根治性治疗，39.5%正在接受姑息治疗。通过远程医疗，大约53%的门诊就诊可以避免。总体而言，远程医疗体验获得了令人鼓舞的反馈，87.3%的患者表示如果有机会，肯定会再次选择远程医疗。
远程医疗实现了癌症护理的不间断提供，特别是对于那些处于主动监测阶段且居住在远离医院偏远地区的患者。我们的研究表明，在疫情期间，远程医疗保障了患者和医护人员的安全，同时为患者带来了医疗设施方面的益处，不过仍需评估其对患者治疗结果和医疗系统的长期影响。
