Utilidad de la telemedicina como consulta en pacientes con afecciones musculoesqueléticas de IRHED desde febrero del 2020 a marzo del 2021.

Abstract

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders include clinical alterations that are seen more frequently in routine medical practice, so the use of telemedicine could allow us to recognize the different benefits and limitations. Objective: To evaluate the usefulness of telemedicine as a consultation in patients with musculoskeletal disorders. Methodology: An observational, retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study was carried out in patients with musculoskeletal conditions from the Institute of Rheumatology, Hematology and Dermatology (IRHED) who were attended through a virtual consultation in a period between February 2020 to March 2021. Results: 60 virtual consultations that meet our inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomly selected, of which 5 were male (8.3%) and 55 were female (91.7%). The average age was 50.90 years. Regarding the type of diagnosis, the most frequent was L405 + Psoriatic arthropathy (M07.0 * - M07.3 *, M09.0 *) in 24 patients (40%), followed by M130 Arthritis, unspecified in 6 patients (10%). In 46 patients (76.7%) there was no modification of the diagnosis while in 14 patients (23.3%) there was a modification. The benefit was savings in consultation due to a simple health problem on 33 occasions (55.0%). Conclusion: The virtual consultation would be a feasible and useful alternative in patients with musculoskeletal conditions as it could have far-reaching implications for our health care system and in turn could change the way we provide routine care to patients especially in times of pandemic.