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Parental Satisfaction from Telemedicine in the Follow-up of Children Operated for Craniosynostosis during COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE
The current study aimed to evaluate the satisfaction level of parents from telemedicine use in the long-term follow-up of children operated for craniosynostosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.


DESIGN
A cross-sectional 9-question survey analysis using Qualtrics survey software.


SETTING
An institutional study carried out at a national, tertiary level academic center in the Slovak Republic.


PATIENTS
All patients operated for non-syndromic and syndromic craniosynostosis in our department, who participated in the virtual postoperative follow-up consultations from March 23, 2020, through July 2, 2021, were included in our series. They were enrolled 498 patients, with the parents of 256 children being responding to the survey.


INTERVENTIONS
The survey remained open until July 16, 2021, two weeks after the last virtual consultations. It was delivered to the parents by e-mail to generate closed 5-point Likert scale responses.


RESULTS
Overall, 72.3% of parents were satisfied with the telemedicine program, and 67.2% found it convenient. Collectively, 89.1% reported that the received instructions were helpful to them. However, only 18.7% of them answered that they would prefer telemedicine consultations in the future.


CONCLUSION
The results of this study showed a high satisfaction from the parents during the virtual follow-up of children operated for craniosynostosis. However, despite their positive experience with telemedicine, the vast majority of parents stated that they would prefer in-person visits in the future.