ArticleBMJ open2023
Did the pandemic influence telehealth use among Swiss emergency department patients? A sequential explanatory study.
Article in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Urgent care utilization patterns in Switzerland: a population-based cross-sectional study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- The Attitude of Egyptian Patients with Autoimmune and Rheumatic Diseases towards Telemedicine.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe aim of this study was to explore pandemic telehealth use among walk-in emergency department (ED) patients at Bern University Hospital.
designAs in sequential explanatory designs, quantitative data were collected first. To explain the quantitative results, telehealth use was explored qualitatively using an interview guide informed by the quantitative results.
settingThe University Hospital of Bern ED designed a follow-up cross-sectional study (baseline done in 2019) to assess telehealth use among ED walk-in patients during the pandemic (2021).
participantsWe included participants of all age groups that had consented to a follow-up qualitative study and also ensured a gender and age balance. We aimed for data saturation that was achieved by the seventh key informant. A total of 11 key informants took part in the study.
resultsThree main themes emerged, namely: (1) telehealth use means the use of a telephone for many; (2) telehealth has both remits and limits; and (3) perceived future telehealth opportunities and threats.
conclusionThe pandemic seems not to have increased telehealth use among walk-in ED patients. The slight increase observed in telehealth use among women seems related to the use of the COVID-19 app from trusted sites like the Federal Office of Public Health. Telehealth emerged as having remits, limits, opportunities and threats. The human factor preference emerged as very important to all key informants. The fear that telehealth threatens the human factor cannot be over emphasised. The telephone remains the biggest telehealth modality among Swiss ED walk-in patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.