Telenephrology application in rural and remote areas of Jordan: benefits and impact on quality of life

Abstract

Introduction: This study aimed to assess the impact of live interactive telenephrology on diagnosis and disease management, patients' quality of life, and time- and cost savings.

Methods: A pre-test-post-test one-group design was used to evaluate the process and outcomes of the teleconsultations among all consecutive patients who attended or were referred to the teleclinics for suspected kidney diseases. Patients were interviewed for relevant information and their quality of life was assessed during the first visit. The quality-of-life questionnaires (short form (SF) 8) were filled 8 weeks after the last visit to assess the changes in the quality of life.

Results: A total of 64 patients were included in this study. The treatment plan changed from that of the referring health provider for 31.2% of patients. The vast majority of patients stated that their visits to teleclinics were associated with less waiting time and lower cost (96.9% and 98.4%, respectively). The total satisfaction score of patients with the services received ranged from 71.2 to 100 with a mean of 96.8 (standard deviation 4.8), indicating a high level of satisfaction. After 2 months of consultations, the mean SF8 score increased significantly from 33.1 to 45.0 (p<0.019), which implies that the telenephrology care was associated with better quality of life, mainly the physical component of quality of life.

Conclusions: Telenephrology care in remote areas of Jordan would improve the access to health care, help to reach proper diagnoses and establish the treatment plan, and is associated with better quality of life.

Keywords: Asia; Epidemiology; Medical; Renal Health.