Endoscopy-related Phone Consultation During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The aim of this study is to evaluate patient and consultant experiences with phone consultations for endoscopy-related outpatient appointments during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Detailed Description
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Telephone consultations as a method for telehealth do not provide visual cues and limit interpretation of visual signs such as visualization of skin lesions. However, the need of such feedback is almost non-existent for endoscopy-related consultations as their purpose is focused. The main foci of endoscopy-related outpatient clinics are two: 1 - inform and consent the patient for an endoscopic procedure that is to be done in the near future; 2 - explain the results of a recent procedure already performed and which has a copy provided to the patient. Therefore, phone consultations might be a good fit for endoscopy-related outpatient clinics. The practicalities and indications for the use of phone consults has been described by van Galen & Car (2018) and fit the above description. Patients will be invited to participate only after the consultation have been finalised and all questions regarding the endoscopic procedure to be done/that was done have been clarified. Patients and consultants will fill questionnaires to evaluate the phone consultation. The primary outcome will the the comparison of failed to attend (FTA) occurrences compared to a similar period of the past year. Secondary outcomes will be patients' and consultants' satisfaction with the phone consultation.

Official Title
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Endoscopy-related Phone Consultation During the COVID-19 Outbreak: Impact on Attendance and Patient/Consultant Perspectives From a Tertiary Australian Hospital

Conditions
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Colon Polyp, Colon Disease, Reflux, Gastroesophageal, Varices, Esophageal

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: None - NA


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Patients booked for an outpatient consultation in the Post-Endoscopy clinic or Advanced Endoscopy clinic Consultation determined to be held over the phone as per preventive measures due to the COVID-19 outbreak Age > 18 years Ability to give informed consent Exclusion Criteria: Phone consultation done with a relative as per patient's preference or inability to talk over the phone Patient that is deemed as confused/not able to understand Unwilling/unable to participate in the post-consultation survey

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Phone consult group<br>Information collected prospectively on FTA patients and questionnaire (satisfaction) | Other: None - NA<br>* Observational study<br>|
| Face-to-face consult group<br>Information collected retrospectively on FTA patients | Other: None - NA<br>* Observational study<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Failed to attend patients | percentage of patients that did not answer phone calls (at least 3 calls) or with documented FTA for the retrospective group. | 2 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Patient satisfaction with the phone consult | Assessed through an online/hardcopy questionnaire based on previous studies on telehealth (adapted from Barsom et al. 2020 - MSF and PAT-VC questionnaires). These are mostly Likert-scale response mode statements. | 2 months | 
| Consultant satisfaction with the phone consult | Assessed through an online/hardcopy questionnaire based on previous studies on telehealth (adapted from Barsom et al. 2020). These are mostly Likert-scale response mode statements. | 2 months |