Patient perspectives and experiences of remote consultations in people receiving kidney care: A scoping review.
Catriona Ewart, Jyoti Baharani, Martin Wilkie and 1 others
PMID 35338610WHAT IT FOUND
Kidney patients generally accepted remote video and phone consultations.
They valued convenience, safety and involvement. Common barriers were technical problems, missed personal contact, privacy worries and lack of physical examination.
Key findings
01In one included study, 9% rated video appointments poorer than face-to-face, while 91% rated the experience no different, better or significantly better.
02The most widely reported benefit was convenience, including reduced waiting and travel burden.
03Technical problems and loss of interpersonal communication were major barriers to remote consultations.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
Only eight studies met the inclusion criteria, and the included studies had small sample sizes and homogeneous populations, so the themes may not reflect all kidney patients. The search was limited to English publications from 2010 to 2021, which may have excluded relevant studies and cultural differences. The review covered only synchronous video and telephone consultations, not remote monitoring, mobile health or other digital care. It reported patient experiences and perspectives, not clinical outcomes, so it cannot show whether remote consultations improved kidney health. Practitioner perspectives were not included, so the review does not capture how clinicians experienced remote consultations.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude remote consultations improve clinical outcomes or suit every kidney patient. This review mapped patient experiences from eight studies, not clinical outcomes, and reported barriers including technical problems, privacy concerns and need for physical examination.