Trial reportEinstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil)2022
Telemedicine diagnosis of acute respiratory tract infection patients is not inferior to face-to-face consultation: a randomized trial.
Trial report in Einstein (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04806477 (Randomized Trial of Diagnostic Accuracy of Medical Evaluation by Telemedicine Compared to Face-to-face Medical Evaluation in an Emergency Care Unit in Immunocompetent Adult Patients With Symptoms Suggestive of Acute Airway Infection), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Randomized Trial of Diagnostic Accuracy of Medical Evaluation by Telemedicine Compared to Face-to-face Medical Evaluation in an Emergency Care Unit in Immunocompetent Adult Patients With Symptoms Suggestive of Acute Airway Infection
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reducing outpatient wait times through telemedicine: a systematic review and quantitative analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Telemedicine vs Face-to-Face Consultation in Fighting COVID-19: Retrospective Cohort Study of Adult Patients With COVID-19 in a Primary Care Setting.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Article
- Evaluating the feasibility, adoption, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability of telemedicine interventions in managing COVID-19 within low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs): A systematic review.PLOS digital health · 2025Article
- Knowledge, Readiness, Willingness-to-Use, and Willingness-to-Pay for Telehealth in Nonlife-Threatening Emergency Department Visits.Telemedicine reports · 2025Article
- The Role of Telemedicine in Emergency Department Triage and Patient Care: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2024Review
- Telemedicine in Primary Practice in the Age of the COVID-19 Pandemic-Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Review
- Internet hospital response to the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary hospital in China: Perspectives based on a mixed-methods.Digital healthArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo analyze telemedicine diagnostic accuracy in patients with respiratory infections during COVID-19 pandemic compared to face-to-face evaluation in the emergency department.
methodsRandomized, unicentric study between September 2020 and November 2020 in patients with any respiratory symptom (exclusion criteria: age >65 years, chronic heart or lung diseases, immunosuppressed). Patients were randomized 1:1 for brief telemedicine followed by face-to-face consultation or direct face-to-face evaluation. The primary endpoint was the International Classification of Diseases code. The secondary analysis comprised length of stay, diagnostic test ordering, medical prescription, and proposed destination.
resultsNinety-eight patients were enrolled. The mean age was 36.3±9.7 years old, 57.1% were women, and 81.6% had diagnostic test ordered. Mean grouped by International Classification of Diseases code for upper respiratory tract infection, pharyngotonsillitis, and sinusitis showed no difference between study groups or secondary endpoints. The Telemedicine Group was representative of the population usually evaluated in this center. In the Telemedicine Group (n=48), 18.7% patients would be referred for evaluation at the emergency department. The distribution of diagnoses by telemedicine was 67.4% for upper respiratory tract infection, 2.3% for pharyngotonsillitis, and 0% for sinusitis, being statistically similar to the subsequent face-to-face assessment, respectively: 72.1%, 11.6% and 7% (Kappa 0.386 [95%CI: 0.112-0.66]; p=0.536). Telemedicine ordered COVID-19 molecular (RT-PCR) tests in 76.5% versus 79.4% in face-to-face evaluation (Kappa 0.715 [95%CI: 0.413-1]; p>0.999).
conclusionDiagnostic telemedicine consultation of low-risk patients with acute respiratory symptoms is not inferior to face-to-face evaluation at emergency department. Telemedicine is to be reinforced in the health care system as a strategy for the initial assessment of acute patients. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04806477.
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