Telehealth approach for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients: the experience during COVID-19 pandemic.
Acta Neurol Scand
; 143(5): 489-496, 2021 May.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-941602
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:
Specialized multidisciplinary ALS care has been shown to extend survival and improve patient's and caregiver's quality of life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the management of patients suddenly changed and telemedicine has been proven to be as effective as outpatient care. We elaborate the experience with Telemedicine of a Tertiary ALS Center from an Italian geographical area with high infectious risk during the COVID-19 pandemic.METHODS:
19 patients were evaluated in telemedicine by a multidisciplinary team including a neurologist (clinical evaluation, intercurrent events, and drug prescriptions); a dietician (diet and weight monitoring); a psychologist (psychological assessment and support); and a physiotherapist (physiotherapy treatment and device prescription). Telemedicine was performed using the online platform "IoMT Connected Care Platform (Ticuro Reply)."RESULTS:
All patients reported a positive perception of talking face to face with healthcare professionals and were satisfied with how the team understood their problems. During video televisits, there was a change in the patient's medication regimen in 11/19; 2/19 required pneumological evaluation and started NIV; and 9/16 patients required prescription of devices. The mean monthly decline of ALSFRS-R before televisit was 0.88 (SD 1.17) and during televisit of 0.49 (SD 0.75). Bodyweight and daily caloric content remain stable. Reduction in HADS scores and stability in ALSAQ-40 were observed.DISCUSSION:
Our study positively reproduced the multidisciplinary approach currently used with ALS patients, trying to stabilize the functional and metabolic status and improving the psychological one. Future directions include a personalized telemedicine program according to the patient's needs.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Patient Satisfaction
/
Telemedicine
/
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
/
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Acta Neurol Scand
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ane.13373
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS