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Feasibility of a Mobile Phone-Based Surveillance for Surgical Site Infections in Rural India.
- Source :
-
Telemedicine & e-Health . Nov2015, Vol. 21 Issue 11, p946-949. 4p. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Objectives: To assess the feasibility of using mobile communication technology in completing a 30-day follow-up of surgical site infection (SSI). Subjects and Methods: SSIs are infections occurring up to 30 days after an operative procedure. This prospective exploratory study was conducted in a cohort of patients who were admitted and operated on in the general surgery wards of a rural hospital in India from October 2010 to June 2011. At the time of discharge, all patients were requested to follow-up in the surgical outpatient clinic at 30 days after surgery. If this was not done, a mobile phone-based surveillance was done to complete the follow-up. Results: The mean age of the 536 operated-on patients was 40 years (95% confidence interval [CI], 38-41 years). The mean duration of hospital stay was 10.7 days (95% CI, 9.9-11.6 days). Most (81%) operated-on patients were from rural areas, and 397 (75%) were male. Among the operated-on patients the ownership of mobile phones was 75% (95% CI, 73-78%). The remaining 25% of patients (n =133) used a shared mobile phone. For 380 patients (74.5%) the follow-up was completed by mobile phones. The SSI rate at follow-up was 6.3% (n =34). In 10 patients, an SSI was detected over the mobile phone. Conclusions: Mobile communication technology is feasible to be used in rural settings to complete case follow-up for SSIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 15305627
- Volume :
- 21
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Telemedicine & e-Health
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 110755080
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1089/tmj.2014.0199