Telemedicine for international travelers through a Smartphone-based monitoring platform (Trip Doctor®).
Travel Med Infect Dis
; 49: 102356, 2022.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35589007
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Overall, more than 50% of international travelers develop symptoms while traveling and 55% of them seek medical assistance during the trip. We conducted a study to evaluate the usefulness of a Smartphone app called TRIP Doctor® to provide telemedicine to international travelers.METHODS:
Participants over 18 years old attending our travel clinic at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona were invited to participate during 2017-2019. After downloading the app, the health status of the traveler was monitored on a daily basis, providing specific medical advice and offering remote contact with specialized physicians through an integrated chat, if needed.RESULTS:
From 449 users, 59 (13%) contacted for medical assistance through the app during the trip. Main reasons for telemedicine were diarrhea (25.7%), skin conditions (19.7%) and fever (12.1%). Among patients who contacted, 90% of the travelers did not require to be referred to a local doctor. Symptomatic treatment was the main treatment prescribed (38%). In a 14.7% of the cases a follow-up was not required, a 63.2% recovered and 22.1% were loss of follow-up. After a multivariate analysis, duration of trip >14 days was found to be the only factor associated with the use of telemedicine (OR 2.2, CI 95% 1.1-4.5, p = 0.03).CONCLUSION:
In conclusion, travelers using telemedicine travelled for longer periods of time and mostly contacted for mild symptoms which could be solved successfully by remote assistance with our specialized doctors.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Médicos
/
Telemedicina
/
Aplicativos Móveis
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Travel Med Infect Dis
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article