Abstract
Respiratory disorders are a leading cause of acute care visits by children. Data establishing the reliability of telemedicine in evaluating children with respiratory concerns are limited. The overall objective of this pilot study was to evaluate the use of telemedicine to evaluate children with respiratory concerns. We performed a pilot prospective cohort study of children 12 to 71 months old presenting to the emergency department (ED) with lower respiratory tract signs and symptoms. Three examinations were performed simultaneously—one by the ED clinician with the patient, one by a remote ED clinician using telemedicine, and one by the child's parent. We evaluated measures of agreement between (a) the local and remote clinicians, (b) the local clinician and the parent, and (c) the parent and the remote clinician. Twenty-eight patients were enrolled (84 paired examinations). Except for heart rate, all examination findings evaluated (general appearance, capillary refill time, grunting, nasal flaring, shortness of breath, retractions, impression of respiratory distress, respiratory rate, and temperature) had acceptable or excellent agreement between raters. In this pilot study, we found that telemedicine respiratory examinations of young children are feasible and reliable, using readily available platforms and equipment.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1149-1154 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2024 |
Funding
PECARN is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), under the Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC) program through the following cooperative agreements: DCC-University of Utah, GLEMSCRN-Nationwide Children's Hospital, HOMERUN-Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, PEMNEWS-Columbia University Medical Center, PRIME-University of California at Davis Medical Center, CHaMP node-State University of New York at Buffalo, WPEMR-Seattle Children's Hospital, and SPARC-Rhode Island Hospital/Hasbro Children's Hospital. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the US Government. The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (grant number R34HL153474, PI: Todd Florin). The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (grant number R34HL153474, PI: Todd Florin).
Keywords
- Telemedicine
- agreement
- pediatrics
- physical examination
- respiratory diseases
- telehealth
- telepaediatrics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Informatics
