Augmented otorhinologic evaluation in telemedical visits

• Published in: American journal of otolaryngology 2024-01, Vol.45 (1), p.104088-104088, Article 104088
• Main Authors: Shomorony, Andre, Weitzman, Rachel, Chen, Hannah, Sclafani, Anthony P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Humans; Otolaryngologists; Otolaryngology; Physical Examination; Portable nasal endoscopy; Portable otoscopy; Remote examination; Reproducibility of Results; Telemedicine; Virtual examination
• ISSN: 0196-0709; 1532-818X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2023.104088

To determine if an endoscopic otologic and rhinologic examination performed by a patient and interpreted remotely by an otolaryngologist is non-inferior to in-person examination, and to assess the feasibility of this system for telemedical visits. Twenty healthy subjects performed a self-examination of their ears and nose using a commercially available endoscope under remote guidance by an otolaryngology provider over Zoom. This same provider and another otolaryngologist also performed separate, in-person examinations of each subject and rated their findings. Finally, both providers blindly reviewed a video recording of each virtual exam four weeks later and rated their findings. Subjects were surveyed about their experience. Interrater reliability was calculated using Cohen's kappa coefficients and the ability to detect different anatomic structures and features by in-person vs. virtual examination was compared using Wilcoxon tests and Chi-squared proportion tests. The subjects' average age was 30 (SD 11.5) years. Interrater reliability was excellent; kappa coefficients were 0.72 and 0.81 (p