title: At-home monitoring after surgery/anaesthesia - a challenge.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Day surgery is evolving, with a majority of recoveries occurring at home. There is, in parallel, an evolution in telemedical technology. The aim of the present project was to identify patients' willingness to use predefined follow-up techniques and to clinically test preferred techniques at home using a two-step study.┅ METHODS: In Part I, a paper-based questionnaire study of identified patients' attitudes with three follow-up techniques was used. In Part II, a feasibility test of a mobile (smart-phone) application for follow-up at home was used.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Part I showed overall positive attitudes to telemedical follow-ups. Part II showed the preference for a follow-up technique with a mobile application was not fully consistent with the clinical study of the smart-phone app, where there was a large non-response. The application provided safe transfer of data to the hospital and helped make it easy to retrieve and analyse patient self-assessment of recovery. This application is one-way directed, and no feedback to the patient was given, which may have influenced the non-response.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bringing telemedicine into follow-up after surgery/anaesthesia is requested, and furthermore, the feasibility study on day surgery presented here shows that it is technically easy to perform and will provide robust information. It should be noted that further studies are needed in order to find better patient cooperation.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Margareta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Warren-Stomberg
authors.affiliation: Anaesthesia & Intensive Care, Institution for Clinical Science, Karolinska Institutet, Danderyds University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Anesthesiology and Intensive Care, Unit of Daysurgery, Mölndal Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Metha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brattwall
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Care Sciences, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.|Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Department of Anesthesia, Surgery and Intensive Care, Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pether
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jildenstål
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000758:Anesthesia; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011446:Prospective Studies; D000068997:Smartphone; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: experience; healthcare; medical research