Hospitalisations for non-specific low back pain in people presenting to South Australian public hospital emergency departments.

OBJECTIVE: The present study sought to investigate predictors of hospitalisation in adults diagnosed with non-specific low back pain (LBP) and/or sciatica from an ED. METHODS: A 5-year, multicentre retrospective observational study was conducted across six public hospitals (metropolitan and regional) using data from electronic medical records. Patient presentations were identified using LBP diagnostic codes and key data extracted (patient demographics, clinical activity, discharge destination). Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to measure associations between identified variables and hospitalisation. RESULTS: There were 11 709 ED presentations across the study period. People aged ≥65 years (odds ratio [OR] 2.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.61-3.10) and those who arrived at the ED via ambulance (age-adjusted OR 2.68, 95% CI 2.44-2.95) were more likely to be hospitalised. People were also more likely to be hospitalised when triaged as more urgent, when blood tests or advanced spinal imaging were ordered, and when i.v./subcutaneous opioids or oral benzodiazepines were administered. Hospitalisation rates for LBP were lower in regional hospitals, in people residing in lower socioeconomic areas and in Indigenous Australians. CONCLUSION: Certain patient characteristics and ED clinical activity are associated with hospitalisations for LBP. Understanding these factors will better inform the design and delivery of appropriate high-quality care.

A randomised double-blind trial to determine the bleeding profile of the prolonged-release contraceptive dienogest 2 mg/ethinylestradiol 0.02 mg versus an immediate-release formulation of drospirenone 3 mg/ethinylestradiol 0.02 mg.

BACKGROUND: Dienogest (DNG) 2 mg/ethinylestradiol (EE) 0.02 mg is the first low-dose combined oral contraceptive (COC) with a prolonged-release formulation that allows stable plasma concentrations and has high contraceptive efficacy (Pearl index: 0.2). The aim of this trial was to determine the bleeding profile of this contraceptive compared to an immediate release formulation. METHODS: This prospective double-blind randomised controlled trial evaluated the bleeding patterns of DNG 2 mg/EE 0.02 mg compared with immediate-release drospirenone (DRSP) 3 mg/EE 0.02 mg in a 24/4-day regimen over nine cycles (randomisation ratio, 5:2). Participants recorded scheduled and unscheduled bleeding/spotting data using an electronic diary. A non-inferiority analysis for the proportion of participants with unscheduled bleeding/spotting was prespecified for Cycles 2-6. Safety, including adverse events, were monitored throughout the trial. RESULTS: Seven-hundred six and 288 participants received DNG/EE and DRSP/EE, respectively. Scheduled bleeding patterns per each 28-day cycle were similar in both groups. During Cycles 2-6, the proportion of participants with unscheduled bleeding/spotting was significantly lower in the DNG/EE group (50.5% [280/574] than in the DRSP/EE group (72.8% [171/235]]; treatment difference 22.3% [95% CI 15.9, 28.6%]; p < 0.0001). A low proportion of participants discontinued the trial due to bleeding disorders (1.7% and 0.7%, respectively). The safety profiles were similar for both treatments. CONCLUSIONS: The prolonged-release DNG 2 mg/EE 0.02 mg offers a significant decrease in unscheduled bleeding/spotting compared with an immediate-release COC, DRSP/EE, combined with high contraceptive efficacy and a very low adverse event profile.

The prolonged-release DNG 2 mg/EE 0.02 mg offers a significant decrease in unscheduled bleeding compared with an immediate-release COC while maintaining contraceptive efficacy and with no new safety signals.

A 3-year retrospective review of hospital admissions involving opioid toxicity in South Australia.

INTRODUCTION: This article aims to characterise hospital admissions involving opioid toxicity across South Australia to guide future implementation and evaluation of risk mitigation strategies. METHODS: International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition codes (T40.0-T40.4) were used to identify admissions involving pre-hospital opioid toxicity in public hospitals across South Australia from 1 June 2017 to 30 August 2020. Demographic and episode of care data were extracted and summarised using descriptive statistics. Admission cost estimates were calculated using Independent Hospital Pricing Authority data. RESULTS: A total of 2046 cases met the criteria for inclusion; over half (56%) were female and median age on admission was 44 years (interquartile range 27 years). Where opioid toxicity was the primary diagnosis, 70% of admissions did not specify the responsible opioid and 23% were related to heroin use. One-fifth of admissions occurred outside of metropolitan Adelaide. Individuals living in an area of relative socio-economic disadvantage were over-represented. Over half of admissions required a stay >24 h; 19% were admitted for ≥5 days, 22% required intensive care and ~10% required mechanical ventilation. The total estimated cost of admissions involving opioid toxicity in South Australia over the 3-year period was $18,230,546.50, equating to $5.6 million per annum. DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the significant personal, fiscal, and systemic impacts of opioid toxicity-related hospital admissions in South Australia and provide a baseline to evaluate the effectiveness of initiatives to reduce opioid-related harm, including real-time prescription monitoring and take-home naloxone supply.

Opportunities to optimise care and choice in joint replacement surgery using a digitally delivered, holistic PreHab pathway.

PURPOSE: To describe the implementation and evaluation of a hospital-initiated, community-based, digital prehabilitation program (My PreHab Program: MPP) for adults referred for elective joint replacement. METHODS: MPP was implemented July 2022 and comprises a personalised digital health screen that guides the provision of self-management resources. Adults (>18 years) referred and accepted, or already waitlisted, for total knee/hip replacement surgery were eligible. Individuals requiring category 1 (urgent) or emergency surgery and those without a mobile phone were excluded. Implementation and intervention outcome measures (program adoption, equity of reach, fidelity, acceptability, appropriateness, feasibility, engagement, preliminary surgical outcomes) were explored via study-specific measures and hospital records. RESULTS: Of those invited (N = 689), 77.8% participated. Participants and non-participants were similar in key demographic variables except regional invitees were more likely to participate than metropolitan (88.0% vs 75.4%, p = .002) and non-participants tended to be older (median age = 69.0 vs 64.0, p = .005). Participants reported on average four modifiable risk factors: most commonly chronic pain (79.1%), obesity (57.3%), and frailty (40.9%). Most participants (80.4%) reviewed all resources provided and reported action/intention to address issues identified (90.9%). Participants perceived MPP as acceptable (3.2/5), appropriate (3.3/5), and feasible (3.4/5). Early trends for participants progressing to surgery (n = 33) show a reduced length of stay (MPP = 4.3, baseline = 5.3 days). CONCLUSION: MPP demonstrated high adoption, fidelity, and participant engagement. It is acceptable, appropriate and feasible and has the potential to be scaled-up digitally at low-cost. Modifiable risk factors were prevalent and early indications suggest this preoperative intervention may benefit both patients and the healthcare system.

"Maybe if we weren't in the pandemic, I would have reconsidered": Experiences of abortion care-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Maryland.

OBJECTIVE: To understand the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on abortion care-seeking in Maryland, a state with Medicaid coverage for abortion, high service availability, and laws supporting abortion rights. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured telephone interviews with 15 women who had an abortion between January 2021 and March 2022 at a hospital-based clinic in a mid-sized Maryland city. We purposively recruited participants with varied pandemic financial impacts. Interview questions prompted participants to reflect on how the pandemic affected their lives, pregnancy decisions, and experiences seeking abortion care. We analyzed our data for themes. RESULTS: All participants had some insurance coverage for their abortion; over half paid using Medicaid. Many participants experienced pandemic financial hardship, with several reporting job, food, and housing insecurity as circumstances influencing their decision to have an abortion. Most women who self-reported minimal financial hardship caused by the pandemic indicated they sought an abortion for reasons unrelated to COVID-19. In contrast, women with economic hardship viewed their pregnancies as unsupportable due to COVID-19 exacerbating financial instability, even when they desired to continue the pregnancy. All participants expressed that having an abortion was the best decision for their lives. Yet, when making decisions about their pregnancy, the most financially disadvantaged women weighed their desires against the pandemic's constraints on their reproductive self-determination. CONCLUSIONS: The pandemic changed abortion care-seeking circumstances even in a setting with minimal access barriers. Financial hardship influenced some women to have an abortion for a pregnancy that-while unplanned-they may have preferred to continue.

"It's different than a doctor saying 'You're making the right choice'": A qualitative study of chaplains' experience caring for patients undergoing abortion in Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

OBJECTIVES: Health care chaplains are faith providers with theological education, pastoral experience, and clinical training who provide spiritual care to patients, their families, and medical staff. This study sought to characterize chaplains' experiences providing spiritual care for patients experiencing abortion and pregnancy loss and to explore how chaplains gain competency and comfort in providing pastoral care for this patient population. STUDY DESIGN: Researchers conducted in-depth, semistructured, qualitative interviews with currently-practicing chaplains recruited via convenience sampling in the Washington DC, Maryland, and Virginia region. We analyzed interviews using directed content analysis and coded using both inductive and deductive coding. RESULTS: We interviewed 13 chaplains. The majority were Protestant and identified as Democrats. Participants often personally struggled with the acceptability of abortion but emphasized the importance of spiritual care for this patient population. They recognized that religious stigma regarding abortion prevented referrals to chaplaincy. Though desiring to contribute, chaplains reported little formal education in pregnancy support counseling. They relied on foundational pastoral care skills, like holding space, values clarification, connecting with patients' spirituality, words of comfort, ritualistic memorialization, and resource provision. All desired more training specific to abortion and pregnancy loss in chaplaincy education. CONCLUSIONS: Chaplains from varied faith backgrounds have a diverse set of skills to support patients experiencing abortion or pregnancy loss, but feel underutilized and lacking in formal training. Though not all patients require pastoral support, chaplains can be critical members of the care team, particularly for those patients experiencing spiritual distress. IMPLICATIONS: Chaplains have a paucity of training in supporting patients experiencing abortion and pregnancy loss. Chaplains want to be involved with patients experiencing abortion but feel excluded by both patients and practitioners. Standardization of pastoral care training is important to ensure adequate spiritual support for patients who desire such services.

A Brief Resilience-Enhancing Intervention and Loneliness in At-Risk Young Adults: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

This secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial assesses whether a behavioral intervention focused on resilience is associated with feelings of loneliness among young adults.

Factors associated with progression or non-progression to bariatric surgery in adults: A systematic review.

Access to bariatric surgery is limited, and the factors related to undergoing or not undergoing the procedure are poorly understood. To this end, a systematic review of PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, and CINAHL was conducted to deduce the factors associated with progression or non-progression to bariatric surgery. Quantitative and qualitative English-language articles ranging in date from database conception to September 2023 were included. Eligible studies employed adult participants (18 years of age or above) who had been referred for bariatric surgery. A total of 57 studies were identified. Fifteen key factors were found, alongside six less frequently studied factors: age, sex, BMI, race and ethnicity, distance to clinic, socio-economic status, insurance coverage, physical health, psychological health, eating history and habits, substance use and smoking, social influence and relationships, pre-surgery process and requirements, surgery-related concerns, choice of surgery, and others (emergency room visitation, COVID-19 virus, health literacy, appearance perceptions, time-off work, and stigma related to surgery). No factors were found to be reliably associated with progression or non-progression to bariatric surgery; however, the nature of these findings is tentative considering methodological flaws and limited research. Further studies are required to elucidate potential inequities in bariatric surgery access and educate policymakers and health professionals.

Development and evaluation of measures to assess self-determination in peripartum contraceptive decision-making.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to adapt and validate person-centered measures to evaluate various contributors to self-determination in perinatal contraceptive decision-making. STUDY DESIGN: We developed and administered four scales adapted from existing measures in the context of Self-Determination Theory: the Treatment Self-Regulation Questionnaire (TSRQ), Perceived Competence Scale, modified Health Care Climate Questionnaire, and Important Other Climate Questionnaire. The TSRQ consists of three subscales: autonomous motivation, controlled motivation, and amotivation. We recruited a nonprobability convenience sample of 300 hospitalized postpartum patients in Baltimore, MD, between 2015 and 2016 and administered surveys in English and Spanish. We validated the scales with Cronbach's alpha coefficients, confirmatory factor analysis, and invariance analysis. We examined construct validity by testing correlations between the scales and other person-centered measures, such as satisfaction with counseling. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha was >0.8 except for the amotivation subscale. Confirmatory factor analysis was adequate for all scales. Autonomous motivation correlated positively and significantly with perceived competence, health care provider autonomy support, important other autonomy support, and other measures of patient satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: We found the four scales to be internally consistent and valid except for the amotivation subscale. We recommend using the autonomous motivation subscale in place of the full TSRQ. The autonomous motivation subscale, Perceived Competence Scale, modified Health Care Climate Questionnaire, and Important Other Climate Questionnaire showed adequate internal consistency, construct validity, and adherence to the expected conceptual structure of the scales. IMPLICATIONS: Autonomous decision-making is central to ethics and quality of care, especially for contraceptive methods that require a provider for initiation or discontinuation and at more vulnerable times, such as postpartum and postabortion. These scales may help tailor person-centered and autonomy-supportive interventions and programs to improve contraceptive counseling and care delivery.

Dialysis Needle-Related Distress: Patient Perspectives on Identification, Prevention, and Management.

Introduction: Needle-related distress is common among people receiving hemodialysis and affects quality of life and treatment decisions, yet little evidence exists to guide management. This study explored patients' experiences of needle-related distress to inform the development of prevention, identification, and management strategies. Methods: Semistructured interviews concerning dialysis cannulation, needle-related distress, and potential solutions were conducted with people with current or recent experience of hemodialysis (N = 15) from a tertiary hospital-based service. Interviews ceased at thematic saturation. Transcripts were analyzed thematically. Results: There were 4 themes and 11 subthemes generated: (i) uncovering a hidden source of distress (dismissal and minimization by others; suffering in silence to stay alive; preparation, assessment, and education); (ii) coping with cannulation pain and trauma (interaction between physical damage, pain, and distress; operator dependency-the importance of nurse skill and technique); (iii) the environment created by dialysis nurses (emotional transference; communication during cannulation; valuing empathy and person-centered care; a psychosocially supportive dialysis unit); and (iv) supporting patient self-management of distress (accessing tools to help themselves; distraction to reduce distress). Conclusion: Needle-related distress is an often-hidden element of the hemodialysis experience. Patients learn to tolerate it as an inevitable part of dialysis for survival. Nurses' technical skills and the dialysis environment they create are key determinants of the patient cannulation experience. Proposed solutions include psychological screening, education for patients to self-manage distress, and training for nurses in communication and providing relevant psychological support.

Nephrology nurses' perspectives working with patients experiencing needle-related distress.

BACKGROUND: A key skill of nephrology nursing is cannulation of patients receiving haemodialysis. Traumatic and unsuccessful cannulation experiences, particularly in the initial weeks of haemodialysis, may contribute to the onset of needle distress for patients. OBJECTIVES: To identify the key knowledge, skills and attitudes of nephrology nurses working with haemodialysis patients and the competencies relevant to nephrology nursing working with patients with needle-related distress. DESIGN: A qualitative study involving semistructured interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and deductive, and inductive thematic analysis applied. PARTICIPANTS: Nephrology nurses (n = 17) were interviewed from a tertiary kidney service in South Australia. Nurses had varying roles and years of experience (range 1-30 years) working with dialysis patients within the service. RESULTS: Two overarching themes, (1) Flexibility in Practice and Care and (2) Responsibility of Nephrology Nursing, were identified as relevant across all knowledge, skills and attitudes of nephrology nurses working with patients with needle-related distress. Thirty-six knowledge, skills and attitudes were identified; 12 related to knowledge, 14 related to skills and 10 were identified as attitudes and were summarised under seven broad competencies. CONCLUSION: This study identifies potential knowledge, skills and attitudes and competencies required for nephrology nurses working with patients with needle-related distress. It highlights strategies that may prevent the onset and worsening of needle-related distress, as well as reduce it. It also brings to light that nurses desire additional education regarding strategies to improve the patient experience of cannulation and nurse confidence and skill in this area.

How Can Nurses Support Patients on Hemodialysis Who Experience Needle Fear? An Online Educational Intervention for Nephrology Nurses.

Nephrology nurses struggle to support patients on hemodialysis who experience needle fear due to absence of adequate programs or guidelines. Therefore, we have designed an educational intervention for nurses to learn techniques and strategies to support patients with needle fear and review best cannulation practices with minimal trauma to improve patients' experience of dialysis. A pre-post design measured self-reported confidence in nurses' ability to support patients on dialysis who have a fear of needles. We found nurses can benefit from targeted educational interventions that provide information and strategies regarding needle fear management. Findings from this study have a potential to be transferred to other chronic disease settings with frequent needle use.

Society of Family Planning Clinical Recommendation: Medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this Clinical Recommendation is to review relevant literature and provide evidence-based recommendations for medication abortion between 14 0/7-27 6/7 weeks of gestation, with focus on mifepristone-misoprostol and misoprostol-only regimens. METHODS: We systematically reviewed PubMed articles published between 2008 and 2022 and reviewed reference lists of included articles to identify additional publications. See Search Strategy for more details. RESULTS/CONCLUSIONS: Several randomized trials of medication abortion between 14 0/7-27 6/7 weeks of gestation demonstrate that mifepristone 200 mg orally before misoprostol increases effectiveness (complete abortion at 24 or 48 hours) compared to misoprostol only. Studies continue to evaluate different doses, routes, and dosing intervals for misoprostol. If mifepristone is unavailable, several misoprostol regimens with individual doses of at least 200 mcg or more are effective. Adjunctive osmotic dilators are of limited benefit. It is important to individualize care, with consideration to reducing misoprostol dose in low resources settings or at 24 0/7 weeks of gestation or later (or equivalent uterine size). Misoprostol in the setting of two or more previous cesarean sections is associated with increased risk of uterine rupture compared to one or none, but risk remains low. Most contraceptives can be started during or immediately following abortion. Appropriately trained and credentialed advanced practice clinicians can provide medication abortion between 14 0/7-27 6/7 weeks of gestation with appropriate backup within the confines of local regulations and licensure.

Society of Family Planning Clinical Recommendation: Medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation: Jointly developed with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

The objective of this Clinical Recommendation is to review relevant literature and provide evidence-based recommendations for medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation, with a focus on mifepristone-misoprostol and misoprostol-only regimens. We systematically reviewed PubMed articles published between 2008 and 2022 and reviewed reference lists of included articles to identify additional publications. See Search Strategy for more details. Several randomized trials of medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation demonstrate that mifepristone 200 mg orally before misoprostol increases effectiveness (complete abortion at 24 or 48 hours) compared to misoprostol only. Studies continue to evaluate different doses, routes, and dosing intervals for misoprostol. If mifepristone is unavailable, several misoprostol regimens with individual doses of at least 200 mcg or more are effective. Adjunctive osmotic dilators are of limited benefit. It is important to individualize care, with consideration to reducing misoprostol dose in low-resource settings or at 24 0/7 weeks of gestation or later (or equivalent uterine size). Misoprostol in the setting of two or more previous cesarean sections is associated with increased risk of uterine rupture compared to one or none, but risk remains low. Most contraceptives can be started during or immediately following abortion. Appropriately trained and credentialed advanced practice clinicians can provide medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation with appropriate backup within the confines of local regulations and licensure.

Society of Family Planning Clinical Recommendation: Medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation: Jointly developed with the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.

The objective of this Clinical Recommendation is to review relevant literature and provide evidence-based recommendations for medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation, with a focus on mifepristone-misoprostol and misoprostol-only regimens. We systematically reviewed PubMed articles published between 2008 and 2022 and reviewed reference lists of included articles to identify additional publications. See Search Strategy for more details. Several randomized trials of medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation demonstrate that mifepristone 200 mg orally before misoprostol increases effectiveness (complete abortion at 24 or 48 hours) compared to misoprostol only. Studies continue to evaluate different doses, routes, and dosing intervals for misoprostol. If mifepristone is unavailable, several misoprostol regimens with individual doses of at least 200 mcg or more are effective. Adjunctive osmotic dilators are of limited benefit. It is important to individualize care, with consideration to reducing misoprostol dose in low-resource settings or at 24 0/7 weeks of gestation or later (or equivalent uterine size). Misoprostol in the setting of two or more previous cesarean sections is associated with increased risk of uterine rupture compared to one or none, but risk remains low. Most contraceptives can be started during or immediately following abortion. Appropriately trained and credentialed advanced practice clinicians can provide medication abortion between 14 0/7 and 27 6/7 weeks of gestation with appropriate backup within the confines of local regulations and licensure.

Cervicovaginal mucus barrier properties during pregnancy are impacted by the vaginal microbiome.

Introduction: Mucus in the female reproductive tract acts as a barrier that traps and eliminates pathogens and foreign particles via steric and adhesive interactions. During pregnancy, mucus protects the uterine environment from ascension of pathogens and bacteria from the vagina into the uterus, a potential contributor to intrauterine inflammation and preterm birth. As recent work has demonstrated the benefit of vaginal drug delivery in treating women's health indications, we sought to define the barrier properties of human cervicovaginal mucus (CVM) during pregnancy to inform the design of vaginally delivered therapeutics during pregnancy. Methods: CVM samples were self-collected by pregnant participants over the course of pregnancy, and barrier properties were quantified using multiple particle tracking. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed to analyze the composition of the vaginal microbiome. Results: Participant demographics differed between term delivery and preterm delivery cohorts, with Black or African American participants being significantly more likely to delivery prematurely. We observed that vaginal microbiota is most predictive of CVM barrier properties and of timing of parturition. Lactobacillus crispatus dominated CVM samples showed increased barrier properties compared to polymicrobial CVM samples. Discussion: This work informs our understanding of how infections occur during pregnancy, and directs the engineering of targeted drug treatments for indications during pregnancy.

An exploratory study of COVID-19-related changes in abortion service availability and use in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

OBJECTIVES: This exploratory study aimed to assess COVID-19-related changes in abortion service availability and use in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. DESIGN: Data came from a convenience sample of eight abortion clinics in this region. We implemented a cross-sectional survey and collected retrospective aggregate monthly abortion data overall and by facility type, abortion type, and patient characteristics for March 2019-August 2020. We evaluated changes in the distribution of the total number of patients for March-August in 2019 compared to March-August 2020. We also conducted segmented regression analyses and produced scatter plots of monthly abortion patients overall and by facility type, abortion type, and patient characteristics, with separate fitted regression lines from the segmented regression models for the pre- and during-COVID-19 periods. RESULTS: Five clinics reported a reduced number of appointments early in the pandemic while four reported increased call volume. There were declines in the monthly abortion trend at hospital-based clinics at the outset of the pandemic. Monthly number of medication abortions increased from March 2020 through August 2020 compared to pre-COVID-19 trends while instrumentation abortions 11 up to 19 weeks decreased. The share of abortions to Black individuals increased during the early phase of the pandemic, as did the monthly trend in abortions among this group. We also saw changes in payment type, with declines in patients paying out-of-pocket. CONCLUSIONS: Results revealed differences in abortion services, numbers, and types during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia.

Satisfaction with telemedicine-delivered inflammatory bowel disease care depends on disease activity, personality and economic factors.

Objective: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) traditionally receive follow-up care at face-to-face outpatient clinics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, gastroenterology societies recommended IBD clinics to be carried out remotely where possible using telephone or telemedicine-delivered virtual clinics. Previous studies have demonstrated patient satisfaction with virtual clinics but few studies have examined factors that impact satisfaction or assessed patient's personal perception of the virtual clinic experience. Design/method: Patients who had their IBD clinic appointment changed from face-to-face to telephone virtual clinic completed a questionnaire relating to their clinical experience and preference for future care. Qualitative data were also collected and evaluated using content analysis to identify major themes associated with the patient experience. Results: 141 patients were included for analysis. The virtual clinic satisfaction questionnaire was found to be valid while patients expressed high-satisfaction levels with virtual clinics (median satisfaction score 18, range 0-20). Multivariate analysis identified open personality type (p=0.004), short disease duration (p=0.047) and higher cost to attend clinic (p=0.047) as predictors of high-satisfaction levels, with active disease (p=0.035) and an agreeable personality type (p=0.042) associated with low satisfaction levels. Content analysis of the qualitative data identified three major themes connected to virtual clinic convenience, lack of physical interaction and disease activity. Conclusion: Patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with telemedicine-delivered IBD clinics, with most wishing to continue their use. Personality type should be recognised as an important variable affecting clinical satisfaction, in addition to socioeconomic and disease-related factors.