Telehealth for Goals of Care Conversations in Advanced CKD: A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study of US Veterans and Their Clinicians

IF 3.2 Q1 UROLOGY & NEPHROLOGY
Alexi Vahlkamp , Julia Schneider , Talar Markossian , Salva Balbale , Cara Ray , Kevin Stroupe , Seema Limaye
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Rationale & Objective

Engaging patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) in goals of care (GOC) conversations is essential to align life-sustaining treatments with patient preferences. This pilot study described the feasibility of engaging older Veterans with advanced CKD in GOC conversations via telehealth by (1) comparing patient characteristics, including life-sustaining treatment note completion rates and preferences by visit modality, and (2) exploring Veteran and clinician perspectives surrounding telehealth GOC conversations.

Study Design

Mixed-method convergent design including a prospective, quantitative observational cohort analysis (n = 40) and qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 4 clinicians and 11 Veterans. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the quantitative data. An inductive, rapid analytic approach and the constant comparison were used to analyze and interpret qualitative data. Quantitative and qualitative data were triangulated to identify practical suggestions to optimize GOC conversations via telehealth.

Setting & Participants

Study participants included Veteran patients aged ≥70 years with advanced CKD stage 4 or 5 from a Veterans Affairs hospital nephrology clinic.

Results

The cohort (n = 40) had a high probability of death, hospitalization, or both occurring within 90 days or 1 year. Across visit modalities, patient characteristics did not differ significantly. Two interrelated themes emerged from interviews: (1) GOC conversation feasibility varies by key personal and environmental factors (barriers and facilitators) across visit modalities, although overarching barriers include lack of non-palliative care provider engagement and uncertainty or lack of understanding surrounding illness trajectory, and (2) engaging Veterans in GOC conversations has a positive impact by creating a sense of reassurance regardless of visit modality.

Limitations

The sample size was small (n = 40), and the study was unable to detect statistically significant differences in patient characteristics and clinical outcomes between visit modalities. Furthermore, future studies with larger and more diverse samples may be better equipped to identify differences by demographic characteristics.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that it is feasible to engage older patients with advanced CKD in GOC conversations via telehealth, as patients wishing to complete a telehealth GOC conversation were able to. Factors increasing the ease of accessing GOC conversations may also increase their benefits, irrespective of visit modality.

Plain-Language Summary

Goals of care (GOC) conversations for older patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) are important to align medical care with patient goals. Telehealth may be used to facilitate GOC conversations for these patients. We studied the feasibility of engaging older patients with advanced CKD in GOC conversations via telehealth. We compared demographic characteristics and visit outcomes between patients who completed telehealth versus in-person visits. We also interviewed patients and clinicians regarding their perspectives. The findings suggest that telehealth visits can be used for a select group of patients who prefer them to in-person visits. However, there are barriers and benefits with both modalities. There is no one-size-fits-all modality; rather, the needs of each patient should determine the most suitable visit modality.
远程医疗促进晚期慢性肾脏病患者的护理目标对话:针对美国退伍军人及其临床医生的混合方法试点研究
理由& 目标让晚期慢性肾脏病(CKD)患者参与护理目标(GOC)对话对于根据患者偏好调整维持生命治疗至关重要。本试验性研究通过以下方法描述了通过远程医疗让患有晚期慢性肾脏病的老年退伍军人参与 GOC 对话的可行性:(1)比较患者特征,包括维持生命治疗笔记的完成率和就诊方式的偏好;(2)探讨退伍军人和临床医生对远程医疗 GOC 对话的看法。研究设计混合方法融合设计,包括前瞻性定量观测队列分析(n = 40)和对 4 名临床医生和 11 名退伍军人的定性半结构式访谈。描述性统计用于描述定量数据。归纳式快速分析方法和恒定比较法用于分析和解释定性数据。对定量和定性数据进行三角测量,以确定通过远程医疗优化 GOC 会话的实用建议。研究对象包括退伍军人事务医院肾脏病诊所中年龄≥70 岁、患有晚期 CKD 4 期或 5 期的退伍军人患者。不同就诊方式下的患者特征差异不大。访谈中出现了两个相互关联的主题:(1)不同就诊模式下,GOC 对话的可行性因关键的个人和环境因素(障碍和促进因素)而异,但主要障碍包括缺乏非姑息治疗提供者的参与,以及对疾病轨迹的不确定性或缺乏了解;(2)无论采用哪种就诊模式,让退伍军人参与 GOC 对话都会产生积极影响,使其产生安心感。局限性样本量较小(n = 40),研究无法发现不同就诊方式下患者特征和临床结果的显著统计学差异。结论研究结果表明,让晚期 CKD 老年患者通过远程医疗参与 GOC 会话是可行的,因为希望完成远程医疗 GOC 会话的患者能够完成。无论采用哪种就诊方式,提高 GOC 会话便捷性的因素也可能会增加 GOC 会话的益处。远程医疗可用于促进这些患者的 GOC 对话。我们研究了通过远程医疗让晚期慢性肾病老年患者参与 GOC 对话的可行性。我们比较了完成远程医疗与亲自就诊的患者的人口统计学特征和就诊结果。我们还就患者和临床医生的观点进行了访谈。研究结果表明,远程健康就诊可用于特定的患者群体,他们更喜欢远程健康就诊而不是面对面就诊。然而,两种方式都存在障碍和益处。没有放之四海而皆准的模式;相反,应根据每位患者的需求来确定最适合的就诊模式。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Kidney Medicine
Kidney Medicine Medicine-Internal Medicine
CiteScore
4.80
自引率
5.10%
发文量
176
审稿时长
12 weeks
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