Disparities in telehealth utilization in patients with pain during COVID-19.

Autor:	Mueller BR; Departments of Neurology and., Lawrence S; Departments of Neurology and., Benn E; Population Health Sciences and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA., Nirenberg S; Scientific Computing and Data, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA., Kummer B; Departments of Neurology and.; Clinical Informatics, Mount Sinai Health System, New York, NY, USA., Jette N; Neurology and Population Health Science & Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA., George MC; Departments of Neurology and., Robinson-Papp J; Departments of Neurology and.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Pain reports [Pain Rep] 2022 Apr 14; Vol. 7 (3), pp. e1001. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Apr 14 (Print Publication: 2022).
DOI:	10.1097/PR9.0000000000001001
Abstrakt:	Introduction: The shift from in-person visits to telehealth visits during the COVID-19 pandemic presented unique challenges for patients with pain. Disparities in health care access already existed, and the impact of telehealth on these inequities has not been studied. Objectives: To identify sociodemographic characteristics of patients with pain obtaining care through video, telephone, and in-person visits as social distancing restrictions evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Using our institutional clinical data warehouse, we identified 3314 patients with pain receiving care at a large academic institution in New York City during a baseline period (September 23, 2019-March 22, 2020) and counted telephone, video, and in-person visits during the following conditions: a shutdown period (March 23, 2020-May 23, 2020), when nonessential in-person visits were strictly limited, and a reopening period (May 23, 2020-September 23, 2020), when restrictions were relaxed and in-person visits were available. Patients were categorized into 4 groups based on the technology used to complete a visit: (1) video, (2) telephone, (3) in-person, and (4) no visit. Results: Patients who were older, publicly insured, and identified as Black or Hispanic were overrepresented in the telephone visit group during shutdown and the in-person group during reopening. A video visit during shutdown increased the likelihood of continued video visit use during reopening despite the return of in-person visits. Conclusions: Results show differences in how patients with pain accessed clinical care in a socially distanced world and that flexibility in method of health care delivery may reduce barriers to access. Future research will identify factors (eg, Internet access, digital literacy, provider-patient relationships) driving heterogeneity in telehealth use in patients with pain. Competing Interests: The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. This work was submitted as a poster and presented orally at the HEAL annual meeting from May 17, 2021, to May 19, 2021.Sponsorships or competing interests that may be relevant to content are disclosed at the end of this article. (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of The International Association for the Study of Pain.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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