ObjectivesTo determine the effectiveness of telehealth, among patients reviewed for urological oncological diseases, compared with standard face‐to‐face (F2F) consultations with regard to patient‐reported satisfaction through use of a validated questionnaire.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a single‐centre randomised controlled trial in 126 patients recruited from the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centres urological oncology clinics. Patients were randomised to either a telehealth audio‐only (telephone) consultation group or a standard F2F consultation group for their next routine appointment. Validated questionnaires, using a 4‐point Likert index scale, were completed at the end of the appointments. Questionnaire scores were analysed using the Mann–Whitney U‐test. The primary outcome measured was patients' preference for type of consultation on subsequent follow‐up. Secondary outcomes involved evaluation of efficiency, quality of care, ease of understanding, overall satisfaction, professionalism, limitations, and convenience.ResultsA total of 63 patients in the F2F group and 53 patients in the telephone group completed and returned the validated questionnaires. Patients' preference for next follow‐up was statistically significant, favouring the telephone group (P = 0.012). For the secondary outcomes, patients in the telephone group also reported greater satisfaction with regard to the efficiency and timing of the consultation (P = 0.005). Conversely, patients in the F2F group reported higher rates of satisfaction with regard to ‘tests and follow‐up’ and the clinician's ability to deal with their issues, as compared to the telephone group (P = 0.002). Also, patients in the F2F group reported higher rates of perceived quality of consultation (P = 0.027).ConclusionOur study demonstrates that patients with urological oncological diseases attending routine follow‐up generally prefer telehealth over F2F appointments. However, patients in the F2F group perceived that there was a higher quality of care in their consultation, and that the services provided were superior, in comparison to patients in the telehealth group. These are barriers to the widespread adoption of telehealth in urological oncology follow‐up care and are rarely reported in the current literature.

中文翻译：

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泌尿肿瘤诊所的远程医疗与面对面咨询：一项随机对照试验


目的确定远程医疗的有效性，在接受泌尿系统肿瘤疾病审查的患者中，与标准面对面 （F2F） 咨询相比，通过使用经过验证的问卷来评估患者报告的满意度。材料和方法我们对从皇冠公主玛丽癌症中心泌尿肿瘤诊所招募的 126 名患者进行了一项单中心随机对照试验。患者被随机分配到远程医疗纯音频（电话）咨询组或标准 F2F 咨询组进行下一次常规预约。使用 4 点李克特指数量表的经过验证的问卷在预约结束时完成。使用 Mann-Whitney U 检验分析问卷分数。测量的主要结局是患者对后续随访中咨询类型的偏好。次要结局涉及对效率、护理质量、易于理解、总体满意度、专业性、局限性和便利性的评估。结果F2F 组 63 例患者和电话组 53 例患者完成并返回经过验证的问卷。患者对下一次随访的偏好具有统计学意义，有利于电话组 （P = 0.012）。对于次要结局，电话组患者也报告对咨询的效率和时间有更高的满意度 （P = 0.005）。相反，与电话组相比，F2F 组患者对“测试和随访”和临床医生处理问题的能力的满意度更高 （P = 0.002）。此外，F2F 组患者报告的咨询质量感知率较高 （P = 0.027）。结论我们的研究表明，参加常规随访的泌尿系统肿瘤疾病患者通常更喜欢远程医疗而不是 F2F 预约。然而，与远程医疗组的患者相比，F2F 组的患者认为他们的咨询质量更高，并且提供的服务更优越。这些是远程医疗在泌尿肿瘤学随访护理中广泛采用的障碍，在目前的文献中很少报道。