Methods to increase surgical preparedness in urogynecology are lacking. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of a preoperative provider-initiated telehealth call on surgical preparedness.
This was a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Women undergoing surgery for pelvic organ prolapse and/or stress urinary incontinence were randomized to either a telehealth call 3 (± 2) days before surgery plus usual preoperative counseling versus usual preoperative counseling alone. Our primary outcome was surgical preparedness, as measured by the Preoperative Prepardeness Questionnaire. The Modified Surgical Pain Scale, Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20, Patient Global Impressions of Improvement, Patient Global Impressions of Severity, Satisfaction with Decision Scale, Decision Regret Scale, and Clavien-Dindo scores were obtained at 4-8 weeks postoperatively and comparisons were made between groups.
Mean telehealth call time was 11.1 ± 4.11 min. Women who received a preoperative telehealth call (n = 63) were significantly more prepared for surgery than those who received usual preoperative counseling alone (n = 69); 82.5 vs 59.4%, p < 0.01). A preoperative telehealth call was associated with greater understanding of surgical alternatives (77.8 vs 59.4%, p = 0.03), complications (69.8 vs 47.8%, p = 0.01), hospital-based catheter care (54 vs 34.8%, p = 0.04) and patient perception that nurses and doctors had spent enough time preparing them for their upcoming surgery (84.1 vs 60.9%, p < 0.01). At 4-8 weeks, no differences in postoperative and patient reported outcomes were observed between groups (all p > 0.05).
A short preoperative telehealth call improves patient preparedness for urogynecological surgery.
International urogynecology journal. 2021 May 24 [Epub ahead of print]
Gabriela E Halder, Amanda B White, Heidi W Brown, Lauren Caldwell, Michelle L Wright, Dobie L Giles, Christine A Heisler, Daksha Bilagi, Rebecca G Rogers
Department of Women's Health, University of Texas Austin Dell Medical School, Medical Park Tower, 1301 W. 38th St., Suite 705, Austin, TX, 78705, USA. ., Department of Women's Health, University of Texas Austin Dell Medical School, Medical Park Tower, 1301 W. 38th St., Suite 705, Austin, TX, 78705, USA., Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Maddison, Maddison, WI, USA.