Telephone consultation as a substitute for face-to-face consultation during the COVID-19 pandemic

INTRODUCTION: The health authorities have recommended that face-to-face consultations be substituted by telephone consultations to reduce the risk of virus transmission in outpatient clinics during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency of such telephone consultations and families' evaluations of them in a paediatric outpatient clinic during the initial weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. METHODS: During the period from 16 March to 23 April 2020, telephone consultations substituting face-to-face consultations in children and adolescents from o to 19 years of age were prospectively recorded. In subsequent telephone interviews, families were asked about their views on the telephone consultation. RESULTS During the observation period, the clinic had 499 scheduled face-to-face appointments and 112 (22.4%) substitute telephone consultations. A total of 103 families participated in a telephone interview representing 87 (84.5%) children with atopic diseases and 16 (15.5%) with other conditions. A total of 100 (97.0%) of the families agreed or strongly agreed that they felt good about being offered a substitute telephone consultation; 14 (13.6%) said that a telephone consultation was not the best option, whereas 89 (80.4%) would not have preferred a face-to-face consultation; 98 (95.1%) felt that the telephone consultation was useful to them. CONCLUSIONS: A minority of planned face-to-face consultations was substituted by telephone consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Families were satisfied with substitute telephone consultations.