Potential clinical and economic benefits of remote deep brain stimulation programming

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; p. 17420
• Main Authors: Pintér, Dávid, Járdaházi, Evelyn, Janszky, József, Kovács, Norbert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 19-10-2022; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 631/378/1689/1718; 692/617/375/1444; 692/617/375/346; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; COVID-19 - therapy; Deep brain stimulation; Deep Brain Stimulation - methods; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; multidisciplinary; Pandemics; Patients; Retrospective Studies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Telemedicine; Travel; Travel-Related Illness; Hungary
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22206-z

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) teleprogramming may help reducing travel-related and other financial burdens for patients and maintaining DBS care in special situations. To determine travel-related burdens of DBS patients and explore effects of COVID-19 on DBS care. Travel- and visit-related data of 319 patients were retrospectively analyzed for the first year, five years, and ten years after initiating DBS. Frequencies of in-person and telemedicine visits over the 18-month periods just before and after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Hungary were also compared. Average travel distance during an in-person visit was 415.2 ± 261.5 km, while average travel time was 342.1 ± 199.4 min. Travel costs for the first year, five years, and ten years were 151.8 ± 108.7, 461.4 ± 374.6, and 922.7 ± 749.1 Euros, respectively. Travel distance, age, and type and severity of disease could help identify patients who would particularly benefit from teleprogramming. We detected a significant decrease in the number of visits during COVID-19 pandemic (from 3.7 ± 2.1 to 2.4 ± 2.7;
p
 < 0.001) which mainly resulted from the decreased frequency of in-person visits (3.6 ± 2.0 vs. 1.7 ± 1.8;
p
 < 0.001). Our results support the introduction of DBS teleprogramming in Hungary which could save money and time for patients while maintaining a secure delivery of DBS.