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. 2022 Jun 7;23(1):146.
doi: 10.1186/s12875-022-01747-2.

Parents' satisfaction of tele-rehabilitation for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Pamela Frigerio  1 , Liliana Del Monte  1 , Aurora Sotgiu  1 , Costantino De Giacomo  2 , Aglaia Vignoli  3   4
Affiliations

Parents' satisfaction of tele-rehabilitation for children with neurodevelopmental disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic

Pamela Frigerio et al. BMC Prim Care. .

Abstract

Background: The use of tele-rehabilitation in children was limited before the COVID-19 pandemic, due to culture, technology access, regulatory and reimbursement barriers.

Methods: The study was conducted according to the CHERRIES (Checklist for reporting results of internet E-surveys) guidelines in order to provide quantitative and qualitative data about experience of patients with disabilities and their caregivers during Phase 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their level of satisfaction. An online survey was developed using Google Forms and sent via email. The outcome measures were rated using a 5-point Likert Scale. Two additional open-ended questions were used to collect qualitative data.

Results: One hundred twenty-eight out of 261 families responded to the survey: 80.5% of the caregivers reported they were satisfied with the tele-rehabilitation. More than a half (53%) of the families reported a high level of satisfaction with the involvement they received in defining and sharing of rehabilitation goals.

Conclusions: The implementation of telehealth during the COVID-19 lockdown has allowed us to gain more information about the potential of tele-rehabilitation, and resulted in an excellent satisfaction of caregivers. With appropriate education and consistent models of care, an increased use of telehealth may provide advances in remote patient care.

Trial registration: Not applicable.

Keywords: COVID-19; Neurodevelopmental disabilities; Parents’ satisfaction; Tele-rehabilitation.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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