Parents welcome follow-up using mobile devices: A survey of acceptability at an Australian tertiary paediatric centre

Abstract

Follow-up for ongoing management and monitoring of patients is important in clinical practice and research. While common, telephone follow-up is resource intensive and, in our experience, yields low success rates. Electronic communication using mobile devices including smartphones and tablets can provide efficient alternatives — including SMS (text), online forms and mobile apps. To assess attitudes towards electronic follow-up, we surveyed 642 parents and carers at Perth Children’s Hospital, targeting demographics, device ownership and attitudes towards electronic follow-up. Mobile phone ownership was effectively universal. Almost all respondents were happy to communicate electronically with the hospital. Promisingly, 93.2% of respondents were happy to receive follow-up SMSs from the hospital and 80.3% were happy to reply to SMS questions. There was less enthusiasm regarding other modalities, with 59.9% happy to use a website and 69.0% happy to use a mobile app. The results support the introduction of electronic communication for follow-up in our paediatric population.

Remote after‐care using smartphones: A feasibility study of monitoring children’s pain with automated SMS messaging

“…We demonstrated that SMS follow‐up for the collection of longitudinal research data in the postoperative period for a single quantitative variable is feasible in a pediatric population and highly acceptable to parents. This aligns with a previous survey of parents from our institution which found the majority were willing to communicate with the hospital via SMS 8 . The high completion and response rates seen in this study demonstrate that this reported willingness translates well into practice.…”

Efficiency and acceptability of an electronic follow-up system (DayCOR) for paediatric patients

“…We note with interest the results of the survey by Smallbone et al., 1 and write to provide additional support for their proposal that electronic follow-up is more efficient than telephone follow-up for clinical purposes.…”

“…Efficiency and acceptability of an electronic follow-up system (DayCOR) for paediatric patients Nicole LT Tan 1 , Kenneth W Sleeman 2 and John R Sestan 3 We note with interest the results of the survey by Smallbone et al, 1 and write to provide additional support for their proposal that electronic follow-up is more efficient than telephone follow-up for clinical purposes.…”

Virtual health care for children: Parental willingness to adopt virtual health‐care technologies

“…In comparison, appetite for symptom tracking appears low with one study reporting 49% amongst parents of children with cancer 4 . An Australian study examining mobile phones for follow‐up of paediatric emergency department visits reported acceptability rates of 93% for receiving text messages, 80% for responding to text messages and 69% and 60% for using an app and a website, respectively 8 …”