TY - JOUR
T1 - Virtual oncology appointments during the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - An international survey of patient perspectives
AU - Loree, Jonathan Michael
AU - Dau, Hallie
AU - Rebić, Nevena
AU - Howren, Alyssa
AU - Gastonguay, Louise
AU - McTaggart-Cowan, Helen
AU - Gill, Sharlene
AU - Raghav, Kanwal
AU - De Vera, Mary A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: De Vera holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and is a recipient of a Scholar Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Loree is the recipient of a Health Professional Investigator Award from the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - There has been rapid implementation of virtual oncology appointments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in its first wave. Our objective was to assess patterns and perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments during the pandemic among patients with cancer undergoing active treatment. We conducted an international Internet-based cross-sectional survey. Participants were eligible if they (1) were ≥18 years of age; (2) had been diagnosed with cancer (3) were currently undergoing cancer treatment, and (4) spoke English or French. Between 23 April 2020 and 9 June 2020, 381 individuals accessed the survey, with 212 actively undergoing treatment for cancer, including 27% with colorectal, 21% with breast, 7% with prostate and 7% with lung cancer. A total of 52% of respondents were from Canada and 35% were from the United States. Many participants (129, 62%) indicated having had a virtual oncology appointment during the COVID-19 pandemic and most were satisfied with their experience (83%). We found older participants (≥50 years; adjusted OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.85 compared to >50 years) and those with shortest duration of treatment (≤3 months; adjusted OR 0.06; 95% CI 0 to 0.69 compared to >12 months) were less likely to be satisfied with virtual oncology appointments. Virtual health platforms used differed across countries with higher telephone use in Canada (87%) and other countries (86%) as compared to the United States (54%; p-value < 0.05), where there was higher use of video conferencing. Altogether, our findings demonstrate favorable patient perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments experienced during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - There has been rapid implementation of virtual oncology appointments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly in its first wave. Our objective was to assess patterns and perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments during the pandemic among patients with cancer undergoing active treatment. We conducted an international Internet-based cross-sectional survey. Participants were eligible if they (1) were ≥18 years of age; (2) had been diagnosed with cancer (3) were currently undergoing cancer treatment, and (4) spoke English or French. Between 23 April 2020 and 9 June 2020, 381 individuals accessed the survey, with 212 actively undergoing treatment for cancer, including 27% with colorectal, 21% with breast, 7% with prostate and 7% with lung cancer. A total of 52% of respondents were from Canada and 35% were from the United States. Many participants (129, 62%) indicated having had a virtual oncology appointment during the COVID-19 pandemic and most were satisfied with their experience (83%). We found older participants (≥50 years; adjusted OR 0.22, 95% CI 0.06 to 0.85 compared to >50 years) and those with shortest duration of treatment (≤3 months; adjusted OR 0.06; 95% CI 0 to 0.69 compared to >12 months) were less likely to be satisfied with virtual oncology appointments. Virtual health platforms used differed across countries with higher telephone use in Canada (87%) and other countries (86%) as compared to the United States (54%; p-value < 0.05), where there was higher use of video conferencing. Altogether, our findings demonstrate favorable patient perspectives towards virtual oncology appointments experienced during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Cancer
KW - Telehealth
KW - Telemedicine
KW - Virtual health
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U2 - 10.3390/curroncol28010065
DO - 10.3390/curroncol28010065
M3 - Article
C2 - 33499380
AN - SCOPUS:85100502356
SN - 1198-0052
VL - 28
SP - 671
EP - 677
JO - Current Oncology
JF - Current Oncology
IS - 1
ER -