TY - JOUR
T1 - Parents welcome follow-up using mobile devices
T2 - A survey of acceptability at an Australian tertiary paediatric centre
AU - Smallbone, Harry E.
AU - Drake-Brockman, Thomas F.E.
AU - von Ungern-Sternberg, Britta S.
PY - 2019/3/1
Y1 - 2019/3/1
N2 - Follow-up for ongoing management and monitoring of patients is important in clinical practice and research. While common, telephone follow-up is resource intensive and, in our experience, yields low success rates. Electronic communication using mobile devices including smartphones and tablets can provide efficient alternatives — including SMS (text), online forms and mobile apps. To assess attitudes towards electronic follow-up, we surveyed 642 parents and carers at Perth Children’s Hospital, targeting demographics, device ownership and attitudes towards electronic follow-up. Mobile phone ownership was effectively universal. Almost all respondents were happy to communicate electronically with the hospital. Promisingly, 93.2% of respondents were happy to receive follow-up SMSs from the hospital and 80.3% were happy to reply to SMS questions. There was less enthusiasm regarding other modalities, with 59.9% happy to use a website and 69.0% happy to use a mobile app. The results support the introduction of electronic communication for follow-up in our paediatric population.
AB - Follow-up for ongoing management and monitoring of patients is important in clinical practice and research. While common, telephone follow-up is resource intensive and, in our experience, yields low success rates. Electronic communication using mobile devices including smartphones and tablets can provide efficient alternatives — including SMS (text), online forms and mobile apps. To assess attitudes towards electronic follow-up, we surveyed 642 parents and carers at Perth Children’s Hospital, targeting demographics, device ownership and attitudes towards electronic follow-up. Mobile phone ownership was effectively universal. Almost all respondents were happy to communicate electronically with the hospital. Promisingly, 93.2% of respondents were happy to receive follow-up SMSs from the hospital and 80.3% were happy to reply to SMS questions. There was less enthusiasm regarding other modalities, with 59.9% happy to use a website and 69.0% happy to use a mobile app. The results support the introduction of electronic communication for follow-up in our paediatric population.
KW - anaesthesia
KW - Follow-up
KW - mobile apps
KW - paediatrics
KW - smartphones
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85066826299&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0310057X19839941
DO - 10.1177/0310057X19839941
M3 - Article
C2 - 31088128
AN - SCOPUS:85066826299
SN - 0310-057X
VL - 47
SP - 189
EP - 192
JO - Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
JF - Anaesthesia and Intensive Care
IS - 2
ER -