Department of Breast Medical Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.
Department of Biostatistics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, United States.
Oncologist. 2024 Nov 4;29(11):e1470-e1479. doi: 10.1093/oncolo/oyae165.
Before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, telehealth was rarely used for breast cancer management at tertiary care centers. We sought to examine patient satisfaction, experiences, preferences, and perceived effectiveness and technical quality of telehealth visits in follow-up patients receiving routine outpatient care in the breast medical oncology practice at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
We administered a survey to 60 follow-up patients for a duration of 9 months (January 5, 2021 to October 27, 2021) who had at least one telehealth consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic, from April 10, 2020 to October 21, 2021. Descriptive statistics were then generated for each question, each domain, and overall survey scores. Subgroup comparisons within patient populations were done using the chi-square or t-test when appropriate.
Among the 60 participants, 49 (82%) were undergoing standard follow-up during active treatment for either early-stage or metastatic breast cancer. Telehealth and in-person office visits were considered equivalent in terms of quality of communication by 43 participants (72%). Most participants (n = 49, 82%) felt equally cared for during telehealth and in-person visits, and 40 participants (67%) reported feeling connected to their healthcare professional during both telehealth and in-person visits. In addition, 28 participants (47%) felt that the duration of telehealth visits was similar to in-person visits, 46 (77%) found both telehealth and in-person visits equally comfortable for discussing sensitive topics, 39 (65%) considered telehealth visits convenient, and 42 (70%) perceived the overall quality of care for telehealth to be similar to that of in-person visits. Participants expressed high satisfaction with telehealth appointments, with 42 (70%) rating their experience as very satisfying. Most participants (n = 44, 73%) expressed a strong likelihood of participating in telehealth appointments for breast cancer follow-up care in the future.
Our results indicate that telehealth can serve as an effective and satisfactory approach for delivering healthcare services to patients with breast cancer requiring follow-up care. The positive experiences and willingness to continue using telehealth indicate its potential for improving access to care and patient outcomes.
在 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之前，远程医疗在三级保健中心很少用于乳腺癌管理。我们旨在研究在德克萨斯大学 MD 安德森癌症中心的乳腺肿瘤内科门诊接受常规门诊护理的随访患者中，远程医疗访问在患者满意度、体验、偏好、感知效果和技术质量方面的情况。
我们在 COVID-19 大流行期间（2021 年 1 月 5 日至 2021 年 10 月 27 日）向 60 名接受常规随访的患者发送了一项调查，这些患者在 2020 年 4 月 10 日至 2021 年 10 月 21 日期间至少进行了一次远程医疗咨询。然后，针对每个问题、每个领域和总体调查分数生成描述性统计数据。在适当情况下，使用卡方检验或 t 检验对患者人群内的亚组进行比较。
在 60 名参与者中，49 名（82%）在早期或转移性乳腺癌的积极治疗期间正在进行标准随访。在沟通质量方面，有 43 名参与者（72%）认为远程医疗和门诊就诊同样有效。大多数参与者（n=49，82%）在远程医疗和门诊就诊时同样感到被关怀，有 40 名参与者（67%）在远程医疗和门诊就诊时都感到与医疗保健专业人员有联系。此外，有 28 名参与者（47%）认为远程医疗就诊的时间与门诊就诊相似，有 46 名（77%）认为远程医疗和门诊就诊同样适合讨论敏感话题，有 39 名（65%）认为远程医疗就诊方便，有 42 名（70%）认为远程医疗就诊的整体护理质量与门诊就诊相似。参与者对远程医疗预约非常满意，有 42 名（70%）表示体验非常满意。大多数参与者（n=44，73%）表示强烈倾向于未来参加远程医疗预约以接受乳腺癌随访护理。
我们的研究结果表明，远程医疗可以作为向需要随访护理的乳腺癌患者提供医疗服务的有效和满意的方法。积极的体验和继续使用远程医疗的意愿表明，它有可能改善获得护理的机会和患者的结果。
