The Application of Telemedicine Among Self-administered Eye Drop Users: the Accuracy and Patient Satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction: Telemedicine has comparable benefits to face-to-face consultation in certain healthcare settings. The purposes of this study were to determine the accuracy and patient satisfaction levels following telemedicine and in-house clinic teaching sessions on self-administered eye drop techniques. Methods: A case-control study was conducted on eye drop users who received instruction in the self-administered eye drop technique teaching via telemedicine and face-to-face sessions. The respondents’ self-administration of eye drops was video-recorded and graded independently by two qualified optometrists on a scale of 1 to 10. Patient satisfaction levels with both platforms were determined using a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Results: This study enrolled 50 eye drop users (N = 25 face-to-face, N = 25 telemedicine) with a mean age of 33.84 ± 15.85 years old. Nearly half of them (48%) had been using the eye drops for more than a year, and 52% had not been instructed on how to administer the eye drops. The accuracy of self-administered eye drops was high (M = 9.5, IQR = 1.5) and did not differ significantly between groups (p > 0.05). While both groups reported high levels of satisfaction (90%), listening difficulties were found to be significantly associated with patient satisfaction (p = 0.02). Conclusion: Both the in-house clinic and telemedicine sessions are significantly comparable to the face-to-face approach for clinical education purposes. The potential for telemedicine delivery is somewhat promising, but additional areas must be explored in the future to demonstrate the effectiveness of the practice.