In a Pandemic That Limits Contact, Can Videoconferencing Enable Interdisciplinary Persistent Pain Services and What Are the Patient's Perspectives?
Jarryd Brown, Darren Doherty, Andrew P Claus and 2 others
PMID 34762855WHAT IT FOUND
Most persistent pain patients were satisfied with videoconferencing during the pandemic, especially audio, video, privacy, and ease.
Preferences varied by discipline, and some still preferred face-to-face care.
Key findings
01Most patients agreed or strongly agreed that audio (91%, n=59) and video (98%, n=64) worked well, all reported privacy was maintained (100%, n=65), and most found the technology easy to use (95%, n=62).
02Most patients rated the videoconference session as equal to face-to-face attendance (68%, n=44), preferred videoconferencing during the pandemic (65%, n=42), and would consider using it in the future (80%, n=52).
03Preferences varied by discipline during the pandemic: pharmacy (83%, n=5), occupational therapy (78%, n=11), psychology (61%, n=8), pain specialist physician (59%, n=10), and physiotherapy (53%, n=8).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling at one tertiary pain center, so it may not represent other persistent pain settings or patients who did not attend. The response rate was not collected, so it is unknown how many eligible patients did not complete the survey. Only 43 of 65 patients answered the open-ended question. Profession-specific comparisons involved small numbers, so the differences between disciplines are not firm. Data were collected during pandemic restrictions, so preferences may reflect lockdown conditions rather than usual care. There was no pre-pandemic or post-pandemic comparison. The original platform allowed patients to enter the same videoconference room before appointments. This caused privacy concerns, although the clinician later controlled entry.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest statement is provided in the supplied text. The videoconferencing platform used was Cisco Jabber from Cisco Systems.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that videoconferencing improves pain outcomes or should replace face-to-face care. It reports satisfaction and preferences after appointments, not pain reduction, and the profession-specific numbers were small.