Patient Satisfaction with Face-to-Face Follow-Up versus Telephone Follow-Up after Elective Day Case Hand Surgery

Background: There has been increasing amounts of work on the use of telephone follow-up (TFU) in trauma and orthopaedics, but little direct work on its use in the follow-up of elective day case hand surgery. The aim of this study is to compare patient satisfaction with face-to-face follow-up (FFU) and TFU after elective day case hand surgery. Methods: Sixty-four patients from an FFU and 61 patients from a TFU cohort were contacted by telephone at least 6 months after their last follow-up. A customized questionnaire with answers recorded on a Likert scale (0-10) was used to evaluate their satisfaction with the follow-up they received. Results: Data from 48 patients from the FFU and 52 patients from the TFU cohorts were available for the analysis. There were no statistically significant differences in patient demographics between the two cohorts. Patient satisfaction was significantly greater in all domains of the questionnaire in the TFU cohort. Most patients from both cohorts (71% face-to-face, 86% telephone) said they would prefer TFU if they were to have the same procedure again. Conclusions: Patients were more satisfied with TFU compared to FFU following elective day case hand surgery. Level of Evidence: Level III (Therapeutic).