Patient education teleconsultations for inflammatory rheumatic disease: an opinion survey

Abstract

Introduction: The recent context of the pandemic has increased the use of telemedicine including patient education (PE) session. We surveyed the opinion of our patients regarding the establishment of PE via teleconsultation. Methods: Retrospective, descriptive, cohort study of patients followed for inflammatory rheumatic disease and seen at least once in a face-to-face (F2F) PE session from 2019 to 2020. Demographic data were extracted from the medical file. We asked participants about their satisfaction on F2F PE sessions and their opinion of PE teleconsultation. Results: We included 186 participants; 143 (77%) were very satisfied with the face-to-face PE sessions. For participants who mentioned restrictions in attending these sessions (n = 72; 39%), the main problems seemed to be geographical isolation (n = 54; 75%) and scheduling issues (n = 9; 12%). Concerning the first F2F PE session, 77/186 (41%) participants would have preferred teleconsultation, potentially in their pharmacy. Regarding an optional collective PE, 81/186 (44%) would rather have had a teleconsultation session. Conclusion: Our study confirms that patients are interested in PE teleconsultation sessions which could lead to lower geographical isolation and scheduling concerns. They would also help reduce health costs and inequalities, including access to medical care in some areas.