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. 2023 Apr;33(4):1083-1091.
doi: 10.1007/s11695-023-06485-7. Epub 2023 Feb 9.

Follow-Up, Safety, and Satisfaction with Tele-bariatric Follow-Up Implemented During the COVID-19 French Lockdown: a 2-Year Follow-Up Study

Ahmed Daouadji-Ghazouani  1 , Judith Aron-Wisnewsky  2   3 , Adriana Torcivia  1 , Marc Irigoin-Guichandut  1 , Christine Poitou  2   3 , Pauline Faucher  2 , Cécile Ciangura  2 , Pierre Bel Lassen  2   3 , Karine Clément  2   3 , Jean-Christophe Vaillant  1 , Jean-Michel Oppert  2 , Laurent Genser  4   5
Affiliations

Follow-Up, Safety, and Satisfaction with Tele-bariatric Follow-Up Implemented During the COVID-19 French Lockdown: a 2-Year Follow-Up Study

Ahmed Daouadji-Ghazouani et al. Obes Surg. 2023 Apr.

Erratum in

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic was initially responsible for a global restricted access to healthcare resources including the follow-up of at-risk populations such as bariatric patients. We substituted face-to-face bariatric follow-up outpatient clinics (FTFC) with teleclinics (TC) during the lockdown.

Material and methods: We retrospectively reviewed data collected on all patients scheduled for TC during the French lockdown period (March 15 to May 15, 2020) (N = 87). Our aims were to present the patients' outcomes at one and 2 years post-TC implementation and describe patient/practitioner satisfaction.

Results: Seven (8%) patients required FTFC, and 80 (92%) underwent TC (study population) for preoperative bariatric assessment (N = 3) and postoperative follow-up (N = 77) after 23.6 ± 29 months following surgery. TC was performed with video and audio (N = 46; 57.5%) or audio alone when video was impossible (N = 34; 42.5%). Sixteen (20%) patients presented at least one complication identified at the first TC and were managed accordingly. There were no readmissions at 30/90 days post-TC. At 1-year after the first TC, overall follow-up rate was 94.9% (TC: 73% vs FTFC: 27%). Patients surveyed on the main advantages of TC over FTFC (N = 46) cited: saving time (97.8%) at a mean 3.9 ± 6.4 h saved per TC, work-advantages (94.3%), and comparable relevance of TC (84.8%). At 2 years post-TC implementation, follow-up rate was 93.5% and satisfaction rate was 80%, with 33% of patients preferring to return to FTFC.

Conclusions: TC is a satisfactory substitute for FTFC, enabling continued bariatric follow-up during and beyond the pandemic setting without compromising patient safety. However, the modest satisfaction outcomes at 2 years highlight a need to discuss follow-up preferences in order to achieve optimal outcomes.

Keywords: Bariatric; COVID-19; Follow-up; Implementation; Sars-CoV2; Teleclinic; Teleconsultations; Telemedicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

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