Assessing the Utility and Patient Satisfaction of Virtual Retina Clinics During COVID-19 Pandemic

Clinical Ophthalmology

关键词: clarus ultra-widefield camera;    sars-cov-2 exposure;    virtual retina clinic;    teleretina;    widefield fundus retinography;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Leire Juaristi,1,2 Cristina Irigoyen,1– 3 Jaione Chapartegui,1,2 Ane Guibelalde,1,3 Javier Mar2,4,5 1Department of Ophthalmology, Donostia Unibertsitate Ospitalea - Hospital Universitario Donostia (HUD), Donostia San-Sebastian, Gipuzkoa, Spain; 2Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Donostia-San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Spain; 3Department of Ophthalmology, University of the Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain; 4Basque Health Service (Osakidetza), Debagoiena Integrated Healthcare Organisation, Research Unit, Arrasate-Mondragón, Gipuzkoa, Spain; 5Kronikgune Institute for Health Service Research, Barakaldo, Bizkaia, SpainCorrespondence: Cristina Irigoyen, Email [e-mail]: To explore whether the virtual retina clinic (VRC) has been a useful and safe platform for monitoring retinal diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic and assessing patient satisfaction.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted for patients with stable retinal diseases in Donostia University Hospital’s Ophthalmology Service during the pandemic. All patients were assessed in the VRC with optical coherence tomography of the macula and widefield retinography, plus visual field tests in hydroxychloroquine retinopathy screenings. The VRC´s effectiveness was evaluated with repeat blind assessments and patient satisfaction with an adapted SERVQUAL scale.Results: The most common diseases were diabetic retinopathy (30.3%) and age-related macular degeneration (21.8%). Most patients (74%) were eligible to continue in the VRC, 19.3% were referred to face-to-face (F2F) appointments and 6.6% were discharged. Patients underwent repeat blind assessments in F2F appointments to monitor VRC performance in 23.7% of the cases. The sensitivity to detect disease progression was 100%. The specificity was 80.1%. The VRC took half the time. The patient overall satisfaction rating was 9.8/10.Conclusion: The VRC, as an additional platform, supports F2F appointments. Almost three-quarters of patients could continue being safely seen in the VRC. The virtual approach decreases SARS-CoV-2 exposure. Patient satisfaction is very good.Translational Relevance: The VRC enables us to attend patients safely with decreased SARS-CoV-2 exposure.Keywords: Clarus ultra-widefield camera, SARS-CoV-2 exposure, virtual retina clinic, teleretina, widefield fundus retinography

【 授权许可】

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