Satisfaction among persons with epilepsy towards physical consultation versus online video consultation for follow-up

• Published in: Epilepsy & behavior 2023-03, Vol.140, p.109081-109081, Article 109081
• Main Authors: Rebello, Alex, Chandrasekharan, Soumya V., Kumar Rudrabhatla, Pavan, Vincent, Sanu J., Menon, Ramshekhar N., Radhakrishnan, Ashalatha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Epilepsy - drug therapy; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Online video consultation; Pandemics; Patient Satisfaction; Personal Satisfaction; Persons with epilepsy; Physical consultation; Referral and Consultation; Teleconsultation; Telemedicine
• ISSN: 1525-5050; 1525-5069
• DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2022.109081

•There were no major differences between PC and OVC with regard to consultation in PWE.•This was especially so regarding ease of getting an appointment and keeping privacy.•Online video consultation was better with regard to patients’ satisfaction with the time doctor spent with them.•It also helped PWE communicate their queries well and clarify their issues better.•Online video consultation can be a satisfactory alternative if some of the issues in OVC are addressed properly. Telemedicine gained popularity in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic. We aimed to study the satisfaction levels of persons with epilepsy (PWE) with online video consultation (OVC) and physical consultation (PC). This was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study conducted in a tertiary referral care center for epilepsy in India. All PWE who had availed of both OVC and PC were included. Those who did not give consent to a questionnaire were excluded. A questionnaire was given to assess patients’ satisfaction regarding OVC and PC. Scores for each question for both OVC and PC were compared. One hundred and forty-one patients who had PC earlier and later availed of OVC from December 2020 to July 2021 formed the cohort. Seventy one patients who responded to the questionnaire were included. 49% and 51% of the patients belonged to urban and rural regions respectively. 8.5% of the patients were off anti-seizure medications (ASM), while 5.6% and 85.9% were on single and multiple ASMs respectively. There were no differences between PC and OVC regarding ease of getting the appointment, privacy during a consultation, patients’ perceived chances of missing consultations, and overall comfort and experience on either type of consultation. Physical consultation scored more than OVC in patients’ satisfaction with the time doctor spent with them, an opportunity to communicate their queries well, clarifications received from the doctor, and the likelihood of patients recommending the particular type of consultation to others(p