Implementation of a telerehabilitation program for oncosurgical patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives and user satisfaction

Abstract

Introduction Many rehabilitation services in the face of the COVID-19 health emergency have had to adapt face-to-face interventions with remote care through telerehabilitation. We aim to describe the implementation of a telerehabilitation program during the COVID-19 pandemic for patients who are candidates for elective cancer surgery in a low-income Chilean public hospital. Secondarily, describe the perspectives and satisfaction of users with the program. Material and methods Correspond to a descriptive and retrospective study. Implementation was measured in terms of, recruitment rate, retention, dropouts, and occurrence of adverse events. User perspectives and satisfaction were evaluated through a survey composed of nine items on a Likert scale with five response options. Descriptive analyses were considered with mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum, as well as absolute and relative frequency. For patients' perspectives on the program, a qualitative analysis was considered to describe them. The most relevant domains were identified in a text box to illustrate the results. Results 155 patients were referred to the telerehabilitation program, with 99.3% recruitment, a retention rate of 46.7% and no adverse events reported. In relation to user satisfaction, in general, patients showed good satisfaction with the telerehabilitation program except items 1 and 8 of the survey. Thirty-three patients reported their perspectives on the intervention, represented in 12 domains. Conclusion It is possible to implement a telerehabilitation program for oncosurgical patients in the context of preoperative care during the COVID-19 pandemic, with good user satisfaction. Likewise, this study provides guidance for other health institutions that wish to implement a telerehabilitation program.