Physician and patient satisfaction with the switch to remote outpatient encounters in epilepsy clinics during the Covid-19 pandemic

• Published in: Seizure (London, England) England), 2021-10, Vol.91, p.60-65
• Main Authors: Teng, T., Sareidaki, D.E., Chemaly, N., Bar, C., Coste-Zeitoun, D., Kuchenbuch, M., Nabbout, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child neurology; EEG; Follow-up; Telehealth; Telemedicine; Virtual care
• ISSN: 1059-1311; 1532-2688
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seizure.2021.05.013

Analyzing parents’ and physicians’ opinions regarding phone-based encounters in emergency shifts of a French pediatric epilepsy center compared to traditional face-to-face encounters during the first lockdown of the COVID-19 pandemic Prospective monocentric study on remote encounters at Necker rare epilepsy reference center from March 20th, 2020 to April 23rd, 2020 due to lockdown measures. This study was conducted with a survey based on 5-point Likert scales (LS-2/2) designed for both parents and physicians. We compared first versus follow-up encounters as well as physicians’ and parents’ opinions. We had a total of 224 responses, among which 204 were completed by physicians (91%) and 173 (84,4%) by parents. Twenty five were first encounters (14,2%). Physicians pointed out the need for clinical examination (42.6%), mainly for first encounters (p=0.0004). Physicians rated the quality of communication lower (p=0.003) as their capacity to answer parents’ questions (p=0.004). They were significantly less satisfied with remote encounters compared to parents (p