Using Whatsapp for the Consultation

NCT04645563 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: Clinical-3
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 144
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Telephone, internet-connected devices (phablet, pc), chat platforms, mobile applications (Skype, Facebook messenger, Whatsapp, to name a few) can be exploited for telemedicine applications. Whatsapp and similar applications are widely used to facilitate clinical communication between physicians, too. Moreover, Whatsapp is used between ED physicians and consultant physicians during ED consultations in which medical information is exchanged. This platform is regarded as a useful application in the consultation of dermatological and orthopaedic cases. Preventing the overcrowding in the ED is key to reducing the transmission risk, and teleconsulting practice is thought to be effective in the diagnosis, treatment and reduction of the risk of disease transmission, most notably in the Covid-19 pandemic process. Video consulting is highly recommended in some countries on the grounds that it is likely to reduce the risk of transmission. Whatsapp-like applications are one of the video-consulting platforms assumed to reduce the risk of contamination by minimizing the patient-doctor contact. This study thus sets out to investigate the effect of Whatsapp video consultation upon patient admission and discharge times in comparison to bedside consultation in the evaluation of potential Covid-19 patients visiting the Covid-19 outpatient clinic during the pandemic period. The subjects who presented to ED Covid-19 outpatient clinic between March 11, 2020 and May 31, 2020 and for whom an infectious diseases (ID) physician was consulted (via Whatsapp or at bedside) will be included in the study in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eventually, 54 patients whose consultations were made via Whatsapp and 90 patients whose consultations were made at bedside will be in this study.

Conditions

Covid-19

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Analyzing the effect of consultation via whatsapp to lenght of stay the patients in emergency medicine department.

  The effect of consultation via whatsapp to lenght of stay the patients in emergency medicine department will be analysed.

  1 month

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Comparing the effect of bedside consultation and consultation via whatsapp on patient discharge or hospitalisation and readmission.

  1 month

Study Arms (2)

Whatsapp Group

This group includes 54 patients who have consulted via whatsapp. The ID physician will be consulted for all the subjects once laboratory results and CT reports were complete. All the consultations were performed with the same smartphone, and every Whatsapp consultation held since the very beginning of the pandemic was evaluated. In this type of consultation, Thorax CT images of the patient were turned into a video of approximately 30-35 seconds, and during this video recording, the patient's clinical condition and laboratory results were also transferred to the ID physician. The ID physician, on the other hand, will state his/her admission-discharge decision via Whatsapp as "hospitalization" or "discharge". Eventually the consultation result will be recorded in the patient's folder. The moment the video was sent will be recorded as the beginning of the patient's consultation period and response time to whatsapp video will be saved as consultation response time.

Other: Sending thorax ct video images via smartphone applications

Bedside Consultation Group

This group includes 90 patients who have consulted bedside. The patients that has problems which are concerning multiple consultation will be excluded. The ED physician wrote a consultation note over the hospital information system by specifying the patient's clinical status, history and laboratory parameters. A physician will be consulted for all the eligible subjects after their laboratory results and CT reports were complete. The ID physician examined the subjects at the bedside within 30 minutes (the legal response time in Turkey) of seeing the consultation request. Consultation response time will be saved as time between entering consultation information through the system to completion of the consultation note Although the consultant ID physicians will be informed via Whatsapp, they held the consultation at the bedside for the subjects they deemed appropriate.

Interventions

Sending thorax ct video images via smartphone applications OTHER

Video images of the patients will be sent via smartphone application to infectious disease specialist for consulting.

Whatsapp Group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

The consultation method of the patients will be scanned retrospectively (from the fixed ED phone and the hospital system) and will be recorded in the dataset. Duration of video that send on whatsapp for consultation, infection diseases specialist response to video, clinician's response to bedside consultation will be saved to dataset. Besides, time from patients application to CT, time from patients application to lab results, duration of patients in ED and time periods of consultation (within working hour \[8:00-17:00\], or out of working hours \[17:00-08:00\]) will be also saved. The subjects who presented to ED Covid-19 outpatient clinic between March 11, 2020 and May 31, 2020 and for whom an infectious diseases (ID) physician was consulted (via Whatsapp or at bedside) were included in the study in accordance with the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

You may qualify if:

• To be examined by the ED physician who consulted an ID physician only at the bedside.

You may not qualify if:

• To be consulted by the ED physician via whatsapp and at the bedside (both). .The patient's ID physician was consulted before completing the CT report and laboratory parameter results.
• The subjects whose consultations were held before admission to another department, .The subjects inflicted with problems involving multiple departments and whose consultations were performed via Whatsapp.
• The subjects who were referred from another outpatient clinic and whose consultation procedures were completed in ED
• The subjects whose consultations were held before admission to another department,
• The subjects inflicted with problems involving multiple departments and whose consultations were performed via Whatsapp,
• The subjects The subjects who were referred from another outpatient clinic and whose consultation procedures were completed in ED whose consultations were held by sending photos,
• The subjects who were referred from another outpatient clinic and whose consultation procedures were completed in ED .The subjects whose consultations were not replied on the same phone.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Kafkas University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Ramazan Sabirli

Kars, Outside of the US, 36000, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Sabirli R, Karsli E, Canacik O, Ercin D, Ciftci H, Sahin L, Dolanbay T, Tutuncu EE. Use of WhatsApp for Polyclinic Consultation of Suspected Patients With COVID-19: Retrospective Case Control Study. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Dec 11;8(12):e22874. doi: 10.2196/22874.

  PMID: 33276318 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

COVID-19

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; Virus Diseases; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: RETROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Dr.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 20, 2020
• First Posted: November 27, 2020
• Study Start: March 11, 2020
• Primary Completion: May 30, 2020
• Study Completion: May 31, 2020
• Last Updated: November 27, 2020

Record last verified: 2020-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)