244 - Telecommunication capability in patients taking oral anticoagulant therapy

Background. To satisfy the increasing number of Patients taking oral anticoagulant therapy (OAT) our Anticoagulation Clinic is introducing telecommunication of clinical data. To optimize our limited resources we performed a preventive investigation regarding Patient’s capability in telecommunication. Methods. Using a questionnaire we interviewed 170 random Patients about their direct (UD) and indirect (UI) capability in the use of the following telecommunication devices: short cell phone messages (SMS), fax, and electronic mail (e-mail). Results. The most widespread device is cell phone (62.4%). Personal computers are owned by 17.1%, fax by 13.5%. UD is 37.1% for SMS, 12.9% for fax, and 10% for e-mail. UD is positively correlated to level of education and negatively to age. UI is 21.8% for SMS, 22.9% for fax, and 30.6% for e-mail. Combined total ability (UD+UI) is 58.9% for SMS, 40.6% for e-mail , and 35.8% for fax. The percentage of Patients unresponsive regarding UI is 25.9 for SMS, 23.5 for fax, and 18.8 for e-mail. 55.5% of Patients declared incapability in all devices. This percentage is correlated positively to age and negatively to level of education. Conclusions. Potentially SMS is the most available device, but with low tracing possibility. 35% and 40.6% of Patients could use respectively fax and e-mail, with satisfying tracing possibility. The ideal telecommunication system should consider Patients’ real capability or possibility, and should automatically adapt itself to the preferred device. Direct physical contact with Medical Doctor must always be available when requested