Smartphone Application WeChat for Clinical Follow-up of Discharged Patients with Head and Neck Tumors: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
- Author:
Ke-Xing LYU
1
;
Jing ZHAO
1
;
Bin WANG
1
;
Guan-Xia XIONG
1
;
Wei-Qiang YANG
2
;
Qi-Hong LIU
3
;
Xiao-Lin ZHU
1
;
Wei SUN
1
;
Ai-Yun JIANG
1
;
Wei-Ping WEN
1
;
Wen-Bin LEI
1
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- MeSH: Adult; Aftercare; economics; methods; Aged; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Patient Discharge; economics; statistics & numerical data; Smartphone; Social Media; Telephone; Young Adult
- From: Chinese Medical Journal 2016;129(23):2816-2823
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUNDNowadays, social media tools such as short message service, Twitter, video, and web-based systems are more and more used in clinical follow-up, making clinical follow-up much more time- and cost-effective than ever before. However, as the most popular social media in China, little is known about the utility of smartphone WeChat application in follow-up. In this study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility and superiority of WeChat application in clinical follow-up.
METHODSA total of 108 patients diagnosed with head and neck tumor were randomized to WeChat follow-up (WFU) group or telephone follow-up (TFU) group for 6-month follow-up. The follow-ups were delivered by WeChat or telephone at 2 weeks, 1, 2, 3, and 6 months to the patients after being discharged. The study measurements were time consumption for follow-up delivery, total economic cost, lost-to-follow-up rate, and overall satisfaction for the follow-up method.
RESULTSTime consumption in WFU group for each patient (23.36 ± 6.16 min) was significantly shorter than that in TFU group (42.89 ± 7.15 min) (P < 0.001); total economic cost in WFU group (RMB 90 Yuan) was much lower than that in TFU group (RMB 196 Yuan). Lost-to-follow-up rate in the WFU group was 7.02% (4/57) compared with TFU group, 9.80% (5/51), while no significance was observed (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.176-2.740; P = 0.732). The overall satisfaction rate in WFU group was 94.34% (50/53) compared with 80.43% (37/46) in TFU group (95% CI: 0.057-0.067; P = 0.034).
CONCLUSIONSThe smartphone WeChat application was found to be a viable option for follow-up in discharged patients with head and neck tumors. WFU was time-effective, cost-effective, and convenient in communication. This doctor-led follow-up model has the potential to establish a good physician-patient relationship by enhancing dynamic communications and providing individual health instructions.
TRIAL REGISTRATIONChinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-IOR-15007498; http://www.chictr.org.cn/ showproj.aspx?proj=12613.
