Efficacy, Efficiency, and Acceptability of Telemedicine for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients' Follow-Up Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, ambulatory clinic visits were replaced by the implementation of telehealth modalities in most inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) units.

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy, efficiency, patient satisfaction, and acceptability of using telephone consultation in an IBD unit.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was performed in IBD patients who underwent telephone consultation during COVID-19 lockdown (between 16th March and 13th April 2020). To assess the efficacy of this telephone consultation (lockdown visit), nonscheduled visits, emergency consultation, hospital admission, and surgery from lockdown visit to the next scheduled consultation (post-lockdown) were checked. To evaluate efficiency, the time between lockdown visit and post-lockdown consultation was compared with previous consultation (pre-lockdown), and the total number of visits 12 months before and after lockdown visit was checked. A telephone survey was designed to rate perception for a telephone consultation.

Results: Out of a total of 274 patients, 220 patients (52.2% male; mean age 49 ± 16 years; Crohn's disease, n = 126; ulcerative colitis, n = 83; indeterminate colitis, n = 11) were included. Only one patient was consulted at the emergency department, 11 patients needed to rearrange the visit, and none patient underwent surgery before the scheduled post-lockdown visit. The interval to post-lockdown visit compared to pre-lockdown visit increased in 37.7% of patients. The satisfaction survey (n = 185) revealed that 94.6% perceived it was effective. However, 44.4% of patients rather prefer on-site consultation for follow-up.

Conclusions: Telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic was shown to be effective and efficient to care for IBD patients. In addition, telephone consultation is well accepted by patients in non-extended follow-up periods.