TELEMEDICINE IN IBD: GOOD TRUST FROM OUTPATIENTS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN MILAN (LOMBARDY)

Abstract

Background and AimDuring the recent COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine has enabled many IBD patients worldwide to get access to remote assistance. Some positive reports on the use of telemedicine among patients and healthcare providers have been published1-4, but a patient’s trust perspective is not available yet.The aim of our study was to verify IBD patients’ trust in telemedicine. This study was approved by our local Ethics Committee.Material and MethodsAt our Gastroenterology Unit in Milan (Italy), 123 video-consultations were delivered to IBD patients with mild or moderate disease, in place of follow-up visits scheduled but not provided during the general lockdown (March-April 2020).Video-calling solutions from Google (Hangouts or Meet) or Microsoft Teams were used according to the patient’s preference.The patients’ trust in telemedicine was assessed through an adapted version of the PAtient Trust Assessment Tool (PATAT) questionnaire.5The primary endpoint was expressed as a >75% percentage of patients giving a score of at least 4 out of 5 in a Likert Scale for three selected key statements: “I can trust video-consultation”, “I can trust that possible problems with the telemedicine service will be solved properly” and “I feel at ease when working with this website”.The questionnaire was formulated through the EUSurvey platform, widely used for clinical research questionnaires in Europe.ResultsOne-hundred-fifteen (93.4%) video-consultations were performed out of the 123 scheduled. Among the 115 consultations, 100 questionnaires were completed (86.9%). The primary endpoint of trust in the telemedicine service was achieved in 95%, 90% and 84% of patients for the three selected key statements about the trust in the telemedicine service, its capability to solve clinical problems and its ease to use.While clinical outcomes were beyond our intentions, we reported no drugs withdrawal in this cohort nor major events.ConclusionOur results showed that during the COVID-19 pandemic most of our IBD patients accepted to receive a video-consultation in spite of the traditional in-person visit and trusted the video-consultation.