JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

During the COVID-19 pandemic parents of very preterm and at risk born infants were exceptionally worried of an infection. The only way to protection during the ongoing pandemic was social distancing. As an alternative way to stay in contact with patients and their families video consultations for neurodevelopmental follow-up care was offered to provide qualified support and to keep track of child’s development.

Objective:

To assess the feasibility of this method and the satisfaction of families an interview after video consultation and an in-person appointment at the follow-up outpatient clinic

Methods:

A 28-questions interview was created asking for parental satisfaction, confidentiality, behavior of children just to name some aspects. A total of 93 interviews with parents were conducted and compared (58 after a video consultation and 35 after an outpatient appointment in person). Interviews were conducted immediately after the in-person or digital appointment by a professional trained in developmental neurology between March 2020 and February 2021. The video consultation was conducted using the certified platform by Zava Sprechstunde Online GmbH® maintaining data protection by an end-to-end-encryption. Follow-up visits (via video and in-person) were performed at a corrected age of 3, 6 and 12 months as well as 2, 3, 4 and 5 years. The rate of total follow-up appointments attended during the survey period within the COVID-19 pandemic was evaluated and compared with the previous year's rate.

Results:

There were no significant differences between video consultation and in-person consultation groups regarding satisfaction, confidentiality of the consultation and discussion of private and sensitive information. Following video consultation parents shared significantly more often their avoidance of contact to medical professionals (P = .045) than the in-person consultation group. Parents of the video consultation group stated that performing a guided examination on their child as comfortable and helpful in understanding the development of their child. Furthermore, they agreed to take advantage of a future video consultation. The rate of total follow-up appointments compared to the previous year’s rate has even been increased.

Conclusions:

The feasibility and parental satisfaction attending video-consultation for follow-up care of their very preterm or at risk-born infant was as high as in-person consultation. Parents rated video consultations as confidential as in-person appointments. Telemedicine can be offered as an equivalent alternative to an in-person consultation and is particularly useful for very sick children who require assistive devices, e.g. respiratory support and oxygen.