Telehealth for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a multidisciplinary service in a Brazilian reference center.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Fidelix, Emanuela Coriolano Santana, Glauciane Costa Barros, Daniele Montenegro da Silva Dourado Junior, Mário Emílio Teixeira
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Background  Telehealth has been used in the treatment of different diseases, and it has been shown to provide benefits for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Due to the social distancing measures put into effect during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there was an urgent need for telehealth to ensure the provision of healthcare.Objective  To evaluate the feasibility of telehealth for the provision of multidisciplinary ALS care, and to assess its acceptability among patients and caregivers.Methods  We conducted a retrospective cohort study in which multidisciplinary evaluations were performed using the Teleconsulta platform. The patients included had ALS and at least one in-person clinical evaluation. The patients and the caregivers answered satisfaction questionnaires.Results  The sample was composed of 46 patients, 32 male and 14 female subjects. The average distance from their residences to the reference services was of 115 km. Respiratory adjustment was the most addressed topic.Conclusion  The strategy is viable and well accepted in terms of satisfaction. It was even more positive for patients in advanced stages of the disease or for those living far from the referral center.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC10232030&blobtype=pdf
ISSN	0004282X
Journal	Arquivos de Neuro-Psiquiatria [Arq Neuropsiquiatr]
Volume Number	81
DOI	10.1055/s-0043-1768161
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10232030
Issue Number	5
PubMed reference number	37257467
e-ISSN	16784227
Language	English
Publisher	Thieme Revinter Publicações Ltda.
Publisher Date	2023-05-31
Publisher Place	Rua do Matoso 170, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 20270-135, Brazil
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Academia Brasileira de Neurologia. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Subject Keyword	Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Motor Neuron Disease Telemedicine Esclerose Amiotrófica Lateral Doença do Neurônio Motor Telemedicina
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Neurology Biological Psychiatry Neurology (clinical)