Evaluating patient experience with in-person versus virtual vasectomy consultations.

Abstract

Since the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, there has been a rise in the use of telehealth pre-vasectomy consultations. Several studies have demonstrated that the rates of vasectomy completion do not seem to be affected by consultation type, suggesting that a pre-vasectomy physical examination is not necessary for successful procedure completion. While the current research offers a preliminary evaluation of the feasibility of virtual consultations for vasectomy, it has not included patient experiences with the consultation and the procedure. Thus, we evaluated satisfaction, procedural experience, and consultation preferences among patients undergoing vasectomy after either in-person or virtual consultation. Between October 1, 2022 and December 31, 2023, patients scheduled with two fellowship-trained infertility specialists were offered either visit type, with consistent counseling and appointment availability across modalities. Post-procedure surveys assessed satisfaction, pain, consultation preference, and anxiolytic use. Of 169 survey respondents, 40 (23.7%) had virtual and 129 (76.3%) had in-person consultations. Five (4.4%) patients who had an in-person consultation reported they would have preferred to have a virtual consultation. In the virtual cohort, 3 (8.6%) patients would have preferred an in-person consultation. No statistical difference was observed between the groups regarding preference for alternate consultation type (P = 0.39). There were also no significant differences in pain rating or reported comfort with vas manipulation by consultation modality (P = 0.21 and P = 0.17, respectively). Most patients still choose in-person consultations over virtual consultations for vasectomy despite equal availability to both, and patients report similar satisfaction and pain scores regardless of their consultation method. Virtual consultation can be offered without compromising patient experience.