A Study Comparing Three Methods of Outpatient Follow up After Surgical Admission; Text Message, Phone Call and In-person Appointment

NCT04245020 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: ISOTOPE
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 208
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study compares three different methods of outpatient follow up after surgical admission to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. The three arms of the study are text message, telephone call or in-person outpatient follow up. Data will be collected to identify complications identified in each arm along with the rate of non-response to the follow up methods and the level of satisfaction with the method. Willingness to use a telemedicine app in the future will also be evaluated through satisfaction survey.

Conditions

Outpatients; Virtual Clinic; Text Messaging; General Surgery

Keywords

Randomised control trial; Virtual clinic; Text messaging; General surgery; Outpatients; Satisfaction; Telemedicine

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Complications that require further follow up

  Complications are identified by patient record and follow up method selected

  6-8 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Satisfaction in follow up

  8-10 weeks

• Willingness to use a virtual clinic app in the future

  8-10 weeks

• Follow up preference

  8-10 weeks

• Lost to follow up

  6-8 weeks

• Further procedures arranged

  8-10 weeks

Study Arms (3)

Text Message

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Patients will be followed up with a series of text messages at 6-8 weeks

Other: Text message follow up

Telephone

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Patients will be followed with a telephone conversation at 6-8 weeks

Other: Telephone follow up

In person

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Patients will be followed in person in the Outpatient department at 6-8 weeks

Other: In person follow up

Interventions

Text message follow up OTHER

A text message will be sent to the patient 6-8 weeks following discharge

Text Message

Telephone follow up OTHER

The patient will be followed up at 6-8 weeks following discharge with a telephone call

Telephone

In person follow up OTHER

The patient will be followed up at 6-8 weeks following discharge in person in the outpatient department

In person

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 16 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Surgical patients admitted either as an emergency or for an elective procedure
• years or older

You may not qualify if:

• Did not consent or cannot give consent
• Age less than 16
• No smartphone
• Further follow up required for treatment of further investigation
• Diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of malignancy

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown: lead

Study Sites (1)

Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown

Dublin, Co. Dublin, D07 A59E, Ireland

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Personal Satisfaction

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Study Officials

• Paul M Cromwell, BM BS BA MRCS

  Department of Surgery, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Dublin 15

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Thomas N Walsh, MD MCh FRCSI

  Department of Surgery, Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown, Dublin 15

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: General Surgery SpR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: September 15, 2019
• First Posted: January 28, 2020
• Study Start: September 16, 2019
• Primary Completion: June 21, 2020
• Study Completion: June 21, 2020
• Last Updated: April 26, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-04

Locations

IE (1)