Bates Tara, Spray Beverly, Canon Stephen
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States.
Arkansas Children's Research Institute (ACRI), Little Rock, AR, United States.
Front Urol. 2023 Feb 13;3:994540. doi: 10.3389/fruro.2023.994540. eCollection 2023.
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way many patients interacted with their healthcare providers, with many people being forced to use telemedicine out of necessity. Our study aimed to investigate if this increased usage of telemedicine impacted pediatric patient caregivers' perception of telemedicine for pediatric urology visits.
A prospective survey was administered to the primary caregiver of all patients less than 18 years of age during either an in-person (IP) or a telemedicine (TM) encounter. The survey included questions regarding accessibility to and opinions toward telemedicine.
Two hundred, thirty-nine total patient caregivers were surveyed: 209 IP and 30 TM. Most caregivers in both cohorts reported being more likely to use telemedicine now than before the pandemic: IP (125/209, 59.8%) and TM (23/30, 76.7%). Caregivers also reported that the severity of their child's condition would impact their likelihood to utilize telemedicine for evaluation (IP 162/209 (77.5%) vs. TM 28/30 (93.3%) with caregivers in the TM group even more likely to be influenced by this factor (p = 0.045). Most caregivers in both groups reported that they would utilize telemedicine within 60 miles from the provider. Over 80% of families from both groups reported having both a laptop and a cellular phone in their home. A greater percentage of caregivers in the IP group reported having a desktop computer and a tablet in their home compared to the TM group (41.1% versus 20.0% and 27.3% versus 3.3%, respectively).
Living through the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the likelihood of caregivers to utilize telemedicine for care of their child's pediatric urologic disorder. Factors such as severity of illness, distance from the provider, and the context of the evaluation influenced caregiver preferences for utilization of telemedicine. All families surveyed reported having a device at home to perform telemedicine. Laptops and cellular phones were the most commonly used devices.
新冠疫情极大地改变了许多患者与医疗服务提供者互动的方式，许多人出于必要被迫使用远程医疗。我们的研究旨在调查远程医疗使用的增加是否影响了儿科患者护理人员对儿科泌尿外科就诊远程医疗的看法。
在面对面（IP）或远程医疗（TM）就诊期间，对所有18岁以下患者的主要护理人员进行了一项前瞻性调查。该调查包括有关远程医疗的可及性和看法的问题。
总共对239名患者护理人员进行了调查：209名面对面就诊患者的护理人员和30名远程医疗就诊患者的护理人员。两个队列中的大多数护理人员报告说，现在比疫情前更有可能使用远程医疗：面对面就诊组（125/209，59.8%）和远程医疗就诊组（23/30，76.7%）。护理人员还报告说，孩子病情的严重程度会影响他们利用远程医疗进行评估的可能性（面对面就诊组162/209（77.5%）对远程医疗就诊组28/30（93.3%），远程医疗就诊组的护理人员更有可能受到这一因素的影响（p = 0.045）。两组中的大多数护理人员报告说，他们会在距医疗服务提供者60英里范围内使用远程医疗。两组中超过80%的家庭报告家中既有笔记本电脑又有手机。与远程医疗就诊组相比，面对面就诊组中有更高比例的护理人员报告家中有台式电脑和平板电脑（分别为41.1%对20.0%以及27.3%对3.3%）。
经历新冠疫情增加了护理人员利用远程医疗护理孩子儿科泌尿系统疾病的可能性。疾病严重程度、与医疗服务提供者的距离以及评估背景等因素影响了护理人员对利用远程医疗的偏好。所有接受调查的家庭都报告家中有进行远程医疗的设备。笔记本电脑和手机是最常用的设备。
