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Telemedicine, a tool for follow-up of infants discharged from the NICU? Experience from a pilot project

Abstract

Objective

Follow-up of infants from the NICU by neonatologist is limited to premature and complicated infants although parents of infants with advanced gestation may have concerns as well. We compared parental questions of infants < 35 weeks gestation (group A), during virtual telemedicine visits, to ≥35 week infants (group B).

Study design

In a retrospective cohort study, questions asked by parents were extracted from the electronic medical record of all infants post discharge from the NICU, after their pediatrician visit.

Results

Gestation and birth weight of infants in group A were significantly lower than group B but their stay was longer. There were no significant differences in the number of parents who had questions, between the groups (A 68.1% vs B 67.3%, p = 0.91, 95% CI 0.46–1.99, OR = 0.96).

Conclusions

Telemedicine is a feasible tool for follow-up of NICU infants post discharge. Parents of infants with advanced gestation and weight may benefit from NICU follow-up.

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Acknowledgements

Kelly Williams and Dawn Howard for their efficient and effective communication in the process of scheduling patients. Daniel Blechschmid for administrative support and many others who supported this project.

Author contributors

AD conceptualized and designed the study, drafted the initial paper, and reviewed, revised and resubmitted the paper. LC collected data, carried out the initial analyses, and reviewed the paper. AM, HA, and HA helped in study design, coordinated and supervised data collection, and critically reviewed the paper for important intellectual content. All authors approved the final paper as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

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Correspondence to Anirudha Das.

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Das, A., Cina, L., Mathew, A. et al. Telemedicine, a tool for follow-up of infants discharged from the NICU? Experience from a pilot project. J Perinatol 40, 875–880 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-020-0593-5

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