Changes in the Use of Telephone Follow-ups among Patients with Urologic Malignancies in Japan.

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to compare telephone follow-ups for patients with urologic malignancies in Japan before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Using the database of the Japan Medical Data Center Co., Ltd., we identified patients with urologic malignancies who underwent at least one telephone follow-up between April 2014 and March 2020.The self-controlled case series method was used to calculate the incidence rate ratio of telephone follow-up utilization for the pandemic using the pre-pandemic period as a reference.

Results: Of the 289 patients, 31 were women. Their median age was 80 years, and the median observation period was 28 months.The incidence rate ratio for telephone follow-up utilization during the pandemic was 17.8 compared to that of the pre-pandemic period. In an analysis stratified by type of carcinoma, the incidence rate ratios were higher in all strata than they were before the pandemic. However, among male patients with genital malignancies, particularly prostate cancers, the incidence rate ratio was lower than in other strata.According to analysis stratified by age, the usage of telephone follow-up for men in their 50s or younger was particularly low. Additionally, the interval between face-to-face visits increased in patients over 60 years-of-age.

Conclusions: The telephone follow-up among patients with urologic malignancies in Japan increased significantly during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results indicate that telephone follow-up can potentially be a valuable patient-doctor communication tool.