Telephone follow-up for the management of thyrotoxicosis: a patient satisfaction survey

Abstract

We conducted a postal survey to assess patient satisfaction with our use of telephone follow-up for the management of thyrotoxicosis. Patients were asked to answer nine questions using the five-point Likert scale. They could also make comments and suggestions for improvement. Over a 17-month period, 135 patients with thyrotoxicosis were followed up by telephone (32 males and 103 females, aged 17-85 years). Eighty-two completed questionnaires were returned (61% response rate). More than 90% of responders strongly agreed or agreed that they were comfortable with telephone follow-up, that it saved them time, that it met their needs and that they would use the telephone follow-up service again. Twelve percent of responders felt that telephone follow-up was not as good as conventional face-to-face consultation. The survey shows that the use of telephone follow-up for the management of thyrotoxicosis is acceptable to most patients, as long as it is mixed with face-to-face consultations.