Effect of Applying Telemedicine Follow-up versus Scheduled Clinic Follow-up on Renal-Transplanted Patients’ Satisfaction

Background: Kidney transplants are becoming common surgical procedures with high success rates. Although many specializations have effectively employed telemedicine, the practice -of kidney transplantation has lagged in its adoption. Aim: The present study’s objective was to evaluate the effect of applying telemedicine follow-up versus scheduled clinic follow-up on renal-transplanted patients’ satisfaction. Design: was quasi-experimental. Setting: The present study was conducted at the Menoufia University Hospital's Renal Surgeries follow-up outpatient clinic, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt. Subjects: A convenient sample of Forty-two adult renal-transplanted participants; half of them who underwent follow-up care via video and telephone calls interaction (telemedicine group) and the other half in scheduled follow-up clinic care (control group). Methods: patients who volunteered to participatewere evaluated for patients’ satisfaction and healthcare use by employing the Kidney Transplant Understanding Tool (K-TUT), Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire, and Health Utilization Questionnaire. Pairing by propensity was done through using one-way multiple regression of variances and one-way variation analysis to contrast the mean and SD of the ratings for the questionnaires. Results: In this investigation, there were 21 telemedicine participants that were confirmed and 21 other patients as the control group. The total average age (±SD) was 50 (±5.51) years for the telemedicine sample and 51 (±6.01) years for the control group, correspondingly. The two samples' levels of overall patients' satisfaction was comparable (p =0.78). While telemedicine participants' satisfaction with social interactions and communication was comparable to that of clinic patient populations', they had much shorter commute (p< 0.0001) and waiting durations (p< 0.0001). 85.7% (18/21) of telemedicine participants choose to utilize the services again due to the convenience of using it without sacrificing patients-nursing engagement. Conclusion: The use of telemedicine seemed to be a more convenient and affordable option than scheduling follow-up meetings. Telemedicine offers the potential to increase clinic efficiency, shorten patient wait durations, and lower expenses for those undergoing kidney transplants. Recommendations: To maximize healthcare use in our nation, greater research into the application of telemedicine in a wide range of clinical environments is therefore necessary. To shorten waiting lists and give patients more flexibility planning, crowded facilities across the country should seriously explore offering telemedicine services.