Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Dec;155(3):398-403.
doi: 10.1002/ijgo.13825. Epub 2021 Jul 29.

Oncophone20 study: Patients' perception of telemedicine in the COVID-19 pandemic during follow-up visits for gynecological and breast cancers

Elisa Picardo  1 , Maria G Baù  1 , Caterina Anatrone  1 , Aurelia Mondino  1 , Alessandra Surace  2 , Federica Gallo  3 , Saverio Danese  1 , Marco Mitidieri  1
Affiliations

Oncophone20 study: Patients' perception of telemedicine in the COVID-19 pandemic during follow-up visits for gynecological and breast cancers

Elisa Picardo et al. Int J Gynaecol Obstet. 2021 Dec.

Abstract

Objective: To analyze oncological patients' perception of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A total of 345 women, of whom 267 experienced breast cancer and 78 experienced a gynecological cancer, were enrolled. Specific questionnaires about their experiences and feelings about telemedicine in the COVID-19 era were collected.

Results: In the breast group, "enhanced care" showed moderate positive perception (mean 4.40) among less-educated women that was slightly lower among better-educated women (mean 4.14) with a significant difference (P = 0.034). "satisfaction" had an opposite pattern: a mean of 3.99 for a lower level of education and 4.78 for a higher level of education, with a strong significant difference (P < 0.001). "privacy and discomfort" approached neutrality for less-educated women, while for higher-educated women the lower mean of 2.93 indicted a more positive perception (P = 0.007). In the pelvic group, younger women had a better perception towards telemedicine for "telemedicine as a substitution" (mean 3.68) compared to older women (mean 3.05). The privacy and discomfort subscale was in favor of better-educated women (mean 2.57) compared to less-educated women (mean 3.28; P = 0.042).

Conclusion: Telemedicine was generally well accepted, not only among younger and higher-educated women but also by women needing intensive care, in both cancer groups.

Keywords: COVID-19; breast cancer; follow-up; gynecology oncology; telemedicine.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Torbjørnsen A, Småstuen MC, Jenum AK, Årsand E, Ribu L. The Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire: psychometric evaluation of the Norwegian version. JMIR Hum Factors. 2018;5(4):e10255. 10.2196/10255. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dario C, Luisotto E, Dal Pozzo E, et al. Assessment of patients’ perception of telemedicine services using the Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire. Int J Integr Care. 2016;16(2):13. 10.5334/ijic.2219. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hirani SP, Rixon L, Beynon M, et al. Quantifying beliefs regarding telehealth: Development of the Whole Systems Demonstrator Service User Technology Acceptability Questionnaire. J Telemed Telecare. 2017;23(4):460‐469. 10.1177/1357633X16649531. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leroi I, Woolham J, Gathercole R, et al. Does telecare prolong community living in dementia? A study protocol for a pragmatic, randomised controlled trial. Trials. 2013;14(1):349. 10.1186/1745-6215-14-349 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Guillemin F, Bombardier C, Beaton D. Cross‐cultural adaptation of health‐related quality of life measures: literature review and proposed guidelines. J Clin Epidemiol. 1993;46(12):1417‐1432. 10.1016/0895-4356(93)90142-n. - DOI - PubMed