Telehealth Sterilization Consultation Does Not Impact Likelihood of Vasectomy: A Retrospective Institutional Analysis
To evaluate if telehealth consultations would impact the likelihood of patients following through with vasectomies. We utilized electronic medical records from the past 5 years to retrospectively evaluate male patients undergoing a sterilization consult. Telehealth consultations have been offered si...
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| Published in: | Urology (Ridgewood, N.J.) Vol. 176; pp. 79 - 81 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
United States
Elsevier Inc
01-06-2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | To evaluate if telehealth consultations would impact the likelihood of patients following through with vasectomies.
We utilized electronic medical records from the past 5 years to retrospectively evaluate male patients undergoing a sterilization consult. Telehealth consultations have been offered since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were stratified to in-office or telehealth consultation. We then utilized billing codes to determine if patients underwent a vasectomy. Percentages of patients who subsequently underwent vasectomy were compared using Chi-square analysis. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with completing vasectomy.
There were a total of 369 patients who underwent a telehealth male sterilization consultation and 1664 patients who were seen in the office. We found that 66.9% of telehealth patients ultimately underwent a vasectomy (n.ß=.ß247) compared to 64.3% of patients who were seen via office assessment (n.ß=.ß1070) (X2 =.ß0.646, p.ß=.ß.724). Younger age was the only variable on univariate logistic regression that was associated with completing vasectomy (p.ß=.ß.002) via either an in-person or televisit, while body mass index, race, and ethnicity were not significant.
Only 2/3 of the men completing a vasectomy consult receive a subsequent vasectomy. Both in-office and telehealth consultations resulted in comparable rates of vasectomy. This is the first study to report on the likelihood of following through with a surgical procedure comparing in-office vs.ßtelehealth assessment in male sexual and reproductive medicine. As vasectomy consultations continue to rise, clinicians can be reassured by the effectiveness of telehealth consultations prior to vasectomy. |
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| Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
| ISSN: | 0090-4295 1527-9995 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.urology.2023.03.019 |