How do parents experience video triage when seeking care for their acute ill children? A qualitative study in a Danish out-of-hours primary care setting.

Objective: The objective is to explore parents' experiences with telephone contacts to out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC) that include use of one-way video ().

Design: A qualitative interview study using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis approach.

Setting: OOH-PC in the Central Denmark Region.

Participants: A convenience sampling strategy was used to include parents of young children (aged 1-5 years), who received video triage in OOH-PC: nine women and one man aged 31-42 years. Data were collected from 26 April to 23 May 2023.

Results: Three main themes were developed, each containing two subthemes: : Parents experienced that video triage provided faster diagnostic clarification than telephone triage. The visual assessment in video triage reduced uncertainties of describing symptoms and increased the parents' feeling of safety. : Parents found video triage impersonal as it focused on the physical examination. The conversation before activation of video was found important, as it established a feeling of trust and reassurance. : Parents found their active involvement in video triage challenging, as it required divided attention and shared responsibility.

Conclusions: Our study indicates the importance of paying attention to the changes in communication and consultation processes afforded by the implementation of one-way video triage. One-way video triage is experienced as a valuable tool for examination, yet it is also perceived to impair the building of trust in the patient-physician relationship.