N/A N=104 Other

Can we Reduce Hospital Attendance Without Compromising Care by the Use of Telephone Consultation

Asthma · COPD · Sleep Apnea Syndromes · Interstitial Lung Diseases · Bronchiectasis

Bottom Line

View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00129701 ↗

Enrolled (actual)

104

Serious AEs

0.0%

Results posted

Jan 2020

Primary outcome: Primary: Patient Satisfaction — 114.3; 116.8 score on scale — p=0.064

Study Design & Population

Study type: Interventional
Phase: N/A
Interventions: Telephone consultation (Procedure)
Age: Adult, Older Adult · 18+ yrs
Sex: All
Sponsor: Imperial College London
Primary completion: Oct 2005

Outcome Measures

Outcome	Result	p-value
PRIMARY Patient Satisfaction	114.3; 116.8	0.064
PRIMARY Patients Needing Expedited Follow up	4	—
PRIMARY Costs Associated With Traditional Face to Face Consultation	—	—

Summary

Consultation time in busy respiratory clinics is inevitably limited and attendance is often disruptive to patients' lives; involves time, expense, travel, and waiting; and can have effects upon occupation. Published work suggests that patient satisfaction with telephone consultations is high and this subject has recently been extensively reviewed by one of the study investigators. In respiratory medicine there is United States (US) data to suggest that the regular telephoning of adolescents with asthma by a specialist nurse can reduce unscheduled use of health service resources. In the United Kingdom (UK), a randomised, controlled trial in primary care has shown that, compared to face to face consultations, use of the telephone can enable greater numbers of patients with asthma to be reviewed. Another of the study investigators has undertaken a feasibility study in a general respiratory clinic and has shown the concept of alternating face to face consultation with telephone consultation to be acceptable to over 80% of patients. Over one third were assessed to be suitable in that they did not need to attend the clinic for either physical examination or for investigations. It is therefore proposed to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, time savings and safety of the use of telephone consultation in 3 respiratory clinics in the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Charing Cross Hospital.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

Patients who had already attended a respiratory clinic on at least two occasions and in whom it was perceived that there was a need for continued follow up in a hospital clinic with review needed more often than once per year Patients with no need for physical examinations or investigations such as chest X-rays, blood tests or lung function tests at every attendance Patients who had access to a confidential telephone line Patients who had no mental, hearing or linguistic problems

Exclusion criteria

New patients or those who need frequent follow up Patients with mental or cognitive issues Patients requiring physical examination and testing.

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Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00129701). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.