Digital Literacy and Patient Satisfaction in Telemedicine Follow-Up With In-Person App Instruction Versus Outpatient Department Follow-Up After Upper-Extremity Surgery: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Study Summary

70 patients undergoing elective nontraumatic hand or upper-extremity surgery were randomized to receive telemedicine follow-up supported by structured in-person training on the Vajira@Home app or conventional in-person outpatient department (OPD) follow-up. Both groups attended the 2-week clinic visit and received standardized postoperative education. At 6 weeks, the telemedicine group completed video-based follow-up from home, whereas the OPD group attended in person. The primary outcome was overall patient satisfaction at 6 weeks. Other outcomes included satisfaction at 2 weeks, communication and care-related satisfaction domains, digital literacy, and longitudinal changes in satisfaction. Outcomes were assessed at 2 and 6 weeks postoperatively. Overall, the results revealed uniformly high satisfaction in both groups, with no significant between-group differences across satisfaction domains and no decline in satisfaction over time. Although digital literacy was higher in the telemedicine group, it did not appear to influence satisfaction, suggesting that telemedicine supported by brief app instruction is a well-accepted alternative to in-person postoperative follow-up in appropriately selected patients.