Open AccessTeleoncology or telemedicine for oncology patients during the COVID-19 pandemic: the new normal for breast cancer survivors?
Author(s) -
Fatih Yıldız,
Berna Öksüzoğlu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
future oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.857
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1744-8301
pISSN - 1479-6694
DOI - 10.2217/fon-2020-0714
Subject(s) - medicine , telemedicine , pandemic , breast cancer , covid-19 , tertiary care , cross sectional study , cancer , family medicine , health care , oncology , emergency medicine , pathology , disease , infectious disease (medical specialty) , outbreak , economics , economic growth
Background: Telemedicine is seen as a savior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials & methods: This study is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted with cancer patients who were interviewed via telemedicine from a tertiary care comprehensive oncology center. Results: A total of 421 patients were included in the study and 118 of them (28.0%) were >65 years old. Communication was provided most frequently by voice call (n = 213; 50.5%). The majority of the patients contacted by telemedicine had breast cancer (n = 270; 64.1%). For 135 patients (32.1%) no further examination or intervention was required and the previously planned follow-up visit was postponed by the clinician. Conclusion: This study showed that telemedicine could open a new era for medical oncology specialists.