Telemedicine for outpatient palliative care during COVID-19 pandemics: a longitudinal study

被引:8
作者
Caraceni, Augusto [1 ,2 ]
Pellegrini, Chiara [1 ]
Shkodra, Morena [1 ,3 ]
Zecca, Ernesto [1 ]
Bracchi, Paola [1 ]
Lo Dico, Silvia [1 ]
Caputo, Mariangela [1 ]
Zappata, Simonetta [1 ]
Zito, Emanuela [4 ]
Brunelli, Cinzia [1 ]
机构
[1] Fdn IRCCS Ist Nazl Tumori, Palliat Care Pain Therapy & Rehabil Unit, Milan, Lombardia, Italy
[2] Univ Milan, Dept Clin Sci & Community Hlth, Milan, Italy
[3] Univ Oslo, Inst Clin Med, Oslo, Norway
[4] Fdn IRCCS Ist Nazl Tumori, Informat & Commun Technol Unit, Milan, Italy
关键词
COVID-19; cancer; ADVANCED CANCER; PERSPECTIVES; SERVICE;
D O I
10.1136/bmjspcare-2022-003585
中图分类号
R19 [保健组织与事业(卫生事业管理)];
学科分类号
摘要
Objectives During the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine (TM) emerged as an important mean to reduce risks of transmission, yet delivering the necessary care to patients. Our aim was to evaluate feasibility, characteristics and satisfaction for a TM service based on phone/video consultations for patients with cancer attending an outpatient palliative care clinic during COVID-19 pandemics. Methods A longitudinal observational study was conducted from April to December 2020. Consecutive patients were screened for video consultations feasibility. Either patients or their caregivers received video/phone consultations registering reason and intervention performed. Those contacted at least twice were eligible for experience of care assessment. Results Video consultations were feasible in 282 of 572 screened patients (49%, 95% CI 45% to 52%); 112 patients among the 572 had at least two phone/video consultations and 12 of them had one or more video consultations. Consultations were carried out with patients (56%), caregivers (30%) or both (14%). 63% of the consultations were requested by the patients/caregivers. Reasons for consultation included uncontrolled (66%) or new symptom onset (20%), therapy clarifications (37%) and updates on diagnostic tests (28%). Most interventions were therapy modifications (70%) and appointments' rescheduling (51%). 49 patients and 19 caregivers were interviewed, reporting good care experience (average of 1-5 satisfaction score of 3.9 and 4.2, respectively). The majority (83% and 84%) declared they would use TM after the pandemics. Conclusions Although feasibility is still limited for some patients, TM can be a satisfactory alternative to in-person visits for palliative care patients in need of limiting access to the hospital.
引用
收藏
页码:E1201 / E1207
页数:7
相关论文
共 34 条
[1]  
[Anonymous], WHO DIRECTOR GEN OPE
[2]   Patients'/Caregivers' Perspectives on Telemedicine Service for Advanced Cancer Patients during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Exploratory Survey [J].
Atreya, Shrikant ;
Kumar, Gaurav ;
Samal, Jyotiprakash ;
Bhattacharya, Moitri ;
Banerjee, Shabnam ;
Mallick, Pallab ;
Chakraborty, Debratna ;
Gupta, Sunipa ;
Sarkar, Saswati .
INDIAN JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE CARE, 2020, 26 (05) :S40-S44
[3]   Effects of a Palliative Care Intervention on Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Advanced Cancer The Project ENABLE II Randomized Controlled Trial [J].
Bakitas, Marie ;
Lyons, Kathleen Doyle ;
Hegel, Mark T. ;
Balan, Stefan ;
Brokaw, Frances C. ;
Seville, Janette ;
Hull, Jay G. ;
Li, Zhongze ;
Tosteson, Tor D. ;
Byock, Ira R. ;
Ahles, Tim A. .
JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, 2009, 302 (07) :741-749
[4]   Smartphone-Based Telemedicine Service at Palliative Care Unit during Nationwide Lockdown: Our Initial Experience at a Tertiary Care Cancer Hospital [J].
Biswas, Swagata ;
Das Adhikari, Shreya ;
Gupta, Nishkarsh ;
Garg, Rakesh ;
Bharti, Sachidanand Jee ;
Kumar, Vinod ;
Mishra, Seema ;
Bhatnagar, Sushma .
INDIAN JOURNAL OF PALLIATIVE CARE, 2020, 26 (05) :S31-S35
[5]   Exploring the adoption of telemedicine and virtual software for care of outpatients during and after COVID-19 pandemic [J].
Bokolo, Anthony Jnr. .
IRISH JOURNAL OF MEDICAL SCIENCE, 2021, 190 (01) :1-10
[6]   Estimating COVID-19 mortality in Italy early in the COVID-19 pandemic [J].
Buchmann, B. ;
Engelbrecht, L. K. ;
Fernandez, P. ;
Hutterer, F. P. ;
Raich, M. K. ;
Scheel, C. H. ;
Bausch, A. R. .
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 2021, 12 (01)
[7]   Patient and Caregiver Experience with Outpatient Palliative Care Telemedicine Visits [J].
Calton, Brook ;
Shibley, William Patrick ;
Cohen, Eve ;
Pantilat, Steven Z. ;
Rabow, Michael W. ;
O'Riordan, David L. ;
Bischoff, Kara E. .
PALLIATIVE MEDICINE REPORTS, 2020, 1 (01) :339-346
[8]   Telemedicine in the Time of Coronavirus [J].
Calton, Brook ;
Abedini, Nauzley ;
Fratkin, Michael .
JOURNAL OF PAIN AND SYMPTOM MANAGEMENT, 2020, 60 (01) :E12-E14
[9]   The efficacy, challenges, and facilitators of telemedicine in post-treatment cancer survivorship care: an overview of systematic reviews [J].
Chan, R. J. ;
Crichton, M. ;
Crawford-Williams, F. ;
Agbejule, O. A. ;
Yu, K. ;
Hart, N. H. ;
Alves, F. de Abreu ;
Ashbury, F. D. ;
Eng, L. ;
Fitch, M. ;
Jain, H. ;
Jefford, M. ;
Klemanski, D. ;
Koczwara, B. ;
Loh, K. ;
Prasad, M. ;
Rugo, H. ;
Soto-Perez-de-Celis, E. ;
van den Hurk, C. ;
Chan, A. .
ANNALS OF ONCOLOGY, 2021, 32 (12) :1552-1570
[10]   Providing Supportive and Palliative Care Using Telemedicine for Patients with Advanced Cancer During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico [J].
Chavarri-Guerra, Yanin ;
Alicia Ramos-Lopez, Wendy ;
Covarrubias-Gomez, Alfredo ;
Sanchez-Roman, Sofia ;
Quiroz-Friedman, Paulina ;
Alcocer-Castillejos, Natasha ;
Del Pilar Milke-Garcia, Maria ;
Carrillo-Soto, Monica ;
Morales-Alfaro, Andrea ;
Medina-Palma, Mildred ;
Carlos Aguilar-Velazco, Jose ;
Morales-Barba, Karen ;
Razcon-Echegaray, Andrea ;
Maldonado, Jenny ;
Soto-Perez-de-Celis, Enrique .
ONCOLOGIST, 2021, 26 (03) :E512-E515