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OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT01821014

Satellite-supplementation of Medical Outreach Clinics: a Feasibility Study

Much of the basic general medical care and chronic disease management in rural Honduras comes from groups of volunteers setting up temporary clinics run by volunteers. These clinics, also known as brigades, or medical missions, are often criticized for their lack of quality and the lack of follow-up, both of which stem, in part, from understaffing with volunteer physicians. This study is designed to assess if it is feasible, safe, and acceptable to treat patients in short-term mobile medical clinics in rural Honduras using US physicians connected with patients by videoconference.

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Key information

Conditions

Telemedicine Behavior Developing Countries Diagnosis Disease Health Behavior Pathologic Processes Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms Patient Satisfaction Primary Health Care Therapeutics Treatment Adherence and Compliance

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Global Brigades

Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán Department, Honduras

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

  • Able to give informed consent
  • Non-emergent medical complaints
  • At least 18 yrs in age

Exclusion criteria

  • Pregnancy
  • Mental Disability

Treatment and study plan

Telemedicine

Other

Patients undergo a detailed history and examination to the degree that is possible using the videoconference program, skype, a digital camera for high-resolution images, and an electronic stethoscope. A clinic volunteer aids with examination, translation and documentation.

Other names: Videoconference, Skype

In-person physician interaction

Other

Patients undergo a detailed history and examination by an in-person physician. A clinic volunteer aids with examination, translation and documentation, as needed.

Other names: in-person visit, in-person examination, in-person consultation

Primary outcomes

  1. Clinical Diagnoses

    Time frame: Same Day as clinic visit (less than 6 hours)

    The diagnoses resulting from the two physician visits will be compared and a cohen's kappa statistic will be calculated for diagnoses between the visits.

  2. Recommended clinical treatments

    Time frame: Same Day as clinic visit (less than 6 hours)

    After each of a patient's two physician visits, the physician's resulting recommended treatments will be gathered for comparison between the two visits.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Patient opinions of physician interactions

    Time frame: Immediately following physician interactions (less than 6 hours)

    Patients will receive a survey following each interaction with a doctor. These surveys cover communication, comfort and satisfaction.

  2. Physician opinions of patient interactions

    Time frame: immediately following volunteer activities with the clinic (less than 48 hours)

    doctors will fill out a survey about their patient interactions after they complete their experience volunteering with the clinic.

  3. Volunteer opinions of physician-patient interactions

    Time frame: immediately following experience with the clinic (Less than 48 hours)

    Volunteers who helped with physician interactions will receive a survey about their experience concerning physician patient communication, volunteer educational value and perceived value of the experience.

Other outcomes

  1. Cost

    Time frame: One year (from pilot to completion of study)

    The costs of materials and services required to conduct the patient examinations will be collected to build an economic model and projected cost of scaling up the videoconference interventions.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Mayo Clinic

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2013
Primary completion
2013
Study completion
2013
First posted
Mar 29, 2013
Registry last updated
May 12, 2014

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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