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Completed

NCT Number: NCT04245020

A Study Comparing Three Methods of Outpatient Follow up After Surgical Admission; Text Message, Phone Call and In-person Appointment

This study compares three different methods of outpatient follow up after surgical admission to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown. The three arms of the study are text message, telephone call or in-person outpatient follow up. Data will be collected to identify complications identified in each arm along with the rate of non-response to the follow up methods and the level of satisfaction with the method. Willingness to use a telemedicine app in the future will also be evaluated through satisfaction survey.

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Key information

Conditions

Outpatients Behavior General Surgery Personal Satisfaction Text Messaging Virtual Clinic

Age range

16 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown

Dublin, Co. Dublin, D07 A59E, Ireland

About this study

This is a non-blinded, single centre open randomised control trial of the outpatient follow up method following surgical admission to Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown.

All eligible patients will be randomised into three arms, text message, telephone or in-person follow up. The follow up will be carried out at 6-8 weeks following discharge. The rate of complications, the non-response rate and the level of satisfaction will be compared between the three groups.

Willingness to use a telemedicine app in the future in place of an in-person follow up will also be measured by patient satisfaction questionnaire.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Surgical patients admitted either as an emergency or for an elective procedure
  • 16 years or older

Exclusion criteria

  • Did not consent or cannot give consent
  • Age less than 16
  • No smartphone
  • Further follow up required for treatment of further investigation
  • Diagnosis or suspected diagnosis of malignancy

Treatment and study plan

Text message follow up

Other

A text message will be sent to the patient 6-8 weeks following discharge

Telephone follow up

Other

The patient will be followed up at 6-8 weeks following discharge with a telephone call

In person follow up

Other

The patient will be followed up at 6-8 weeks following discharge in person in the outpatient department

Primary outcomes

  1. Complications that require further follow up

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks

    Complications are identified by patient record and follow up method selected

Secondary outcomes

  1. Satisfaction in follow up

    Time frame: 8-10 weeks

    A questionnaire will assess how happy based on a survey patients were with their follow up method. The CSQ 8 score will be used along with a previously published questionnaire from this institiution. In the CSQ-8 questionnaire a higher score indicates more satisfaction.

  2. Willingness to use a virtual clinic app in the future

    Time frame: 8-10 weeks

    A questionnaire will assess patients preference in further follow up, specifically are patients happy to use a telemedicine based app. (answer no definitely not, no not really, yes generally, yes definitely.

  3. Follow up preference

    Time frame: 8-10 weeks

    Preferred follow up method will be identified by above patient questionnaire (text, phone or OPD)

  4. Lost to follow up

    Time frame: 6-8 weeks

    number of patients that are lost to follow up per follow up method

  5. Further procedures arranged

    Time frame: 8-10 weeks

    number of patients who have an additional procedure arranged which will be identified in the medical record

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown

Other

Registry information

Official study title

An Open Label Randomised Control Trial Comparing Three Methods of Outpatient Follow up After Surgical Admission in Connolly Hospital Blanchardstown; Text Message, Phone Call and In-person Appointment

Acronym: ISOTOPE

Important dates

Study start
2019
Primary completion
2020
Study completion
2020
First posted
Jan 28, 2020
Registry last updated
Apr 26, 2021

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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