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Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey

OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatic patients’ and rheumatologists’ usage, preferences and perception of digital health applications (DHAs). METHODS: A web-based national survey was developed by the Working Group Young Rheumatology of the German Society for Rheumato...

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Autores principales: Kernder, Anna, Morf, Harriet, Klemm, Philipp, Vossen, Diana, Haase, Isabell, Mucke, Johanna, Meyer, Marco, Kleyer, Arnd, Sewerin, Philipp, Bendzuck, Gerlinde, Eis, Sabine, Knitza, Johannes, Krusche, Martin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7907631/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33622673
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001548
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author Kernder, Anna
Morf, Harriet
Klemm, Philipp
Vossen, Diana
Haase, Isabell
Mucke, Johanna
Meyer, Marco
Kleyer, Arnd
Sewerin, Philipp
Bendzuck, Gerlinde
Eis, Sabine
Knitza, Johannes
Krusche, Martin
author_facet Kernder, Anna
Morf, Harriet
Klemm, Philipp
Vossen, Diana
Haase, Isabell
Mucke, Johanna
Meyer, Marco
Kleyer, Arnd
Sewerin, Philipp
Bendzuck, Gerlinde
Eis, Sabine
Knitza, Johannes
Krusche, Martin
author_sort Kernder, Anna
collection PubMed
description OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatic patients’ and rheumatologists’ usage, preferences and perception of digital health applications (DHAs). METHODS: A web-based national survey was developed by the Working Group Young Rheumatology of the German Society for Rheumatology and the German League against Rheumatism. The prospective survey was distributed via social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook), QR code and email. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and regression analyses were performed to show correlations. RESULTS: We analysed the responses of 299 patients and 129 rheumatologists. Most patients (74%) and rheumatologists (76%) believed that DHAs are useful in the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and felt confident in their own usage thereof (90%; 86%). 38% of patients and 71% of rheumatologists reported that their attitude had changed positively towards DHAs and that their usage had increased due to COVID-19 (29%; 48%). The majority in both groups agreed on implementing virtual visits for follow-up appointments in stable disease conditions. The most reported advantages of DHAs were usage independent of time and place (76.6%; 77.5%). The main barriers were a lack of information on suitable, available DHAs (58.5%; 41.9%), poor usability (42.1% of patients) and a lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of DHAs (23.2% of rheumatologists). Only a minority (<10% in both groups) believed that digitalisation has a negative impact on the patient–doctor relationship. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic instigated an increase in patients’ and rheumatologists’ acceptance and usage of DHAs, possibly introducing a permanent paradigm shift in the management of RMDs.
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spelling pubmed-79076312021-02-26 Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey Kernder, Anna Morf, Harriet Klemm, Philipp Vossen, Diana Haase, Isabell Mucke, Johanna Meyer, Marco Kleyer, Arnd Sewerin, Philipp Bendzuck, Gerlinde Eis, Sabine Knitza, Johannes Krusche, Martin RMD Open Epidemiology OBJECTIVE: To analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rheumatic patients’ and rheumatologists’ usage, preferences and perception of digital health applications (DHAs). METHODS: A web-based national survey was developed by the Working Group Young Rheumatology of the German Society for Rheumatology and the German League against Rheumatism. The prospective survey was distributed via social media (Twitter, Instagram and Facebook), QR code and email. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and regression analyses were performed to show correlations. RESULTS: We analysed the responses of 299 patients and 129 rheumatologists. Most patients (74%) and rheumatologists (76%) believed that DHAs are useful in the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases (RMDs) and felt confident in their own usage thereof (90%; 86%). 38% of patients and 71% of rheumatologists reported that their attitude had changed positively towards DHAs and that their usage had increased due to COVID-19 (29%; 48%). The majority in both groups agreed on implementing virtual visits for follow-up appointments in stable disease conditions. The most reported advantages of DHAs were usage independent of time and place (76.6%; 77.5%). The main barriers were a lack of information on suitable, available DHAs (58.5%; 41.9%), poor usability (42.1% of patients) and a lack of evidence supporting the effectiveness of DHAs (23.2% of rheumatologists). Only a minority (<10% in both groups) believed that digitalisation has a negative impact on the patient–doctor relationship. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic instigated an increase in patients’ and rheumatologists’ acceptance and usage of DHAs, possibly introducing a permanent paradigm shift in the management of RMDs. BMJ Publishing Group 2021-02-23 /pmc/articles/PMC7907631/ /pubmed/33622673 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001548 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
spellingShingle Epidemiology
Kernder, Anna
Morf, Harriet
Klemm, Philipp
Vossen, Diana
Haase, Isabell
Mucke, Johanna
Meyer, Marco
Kleyer, Arnd
Sewerin, Philipp
Bendzuck, Gerlinde
Eis, Sabine
Knitza, Johannes
Krusche, Martin
Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title_full Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title_fullStr Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title_full_unstemmed Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title_short Digital rheumatology in the era of COVID-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
title_sort digital rheumatology in the era of covid-19: results of a national patient and physician survey
topic Epidemiology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7907631/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33622673
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/rmdopen-2020-001548
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