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Researchers adapted the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire to gauge whether patients with inflammatory bowel disease were satisfied with telephone care.

An adapted version of the Telehealth Usability Questionnaire called the Telephone Care Satisfaction Questionnaire (TCSQ patient) proved a valid and reliable measure of telephone care satisfaction among patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study published in The Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

“The use of the TCSQ patient could facilitate the identification of opportunities for improvement of telephone care use among people with IBD,” authored a research team from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “In addition, further studies could consider exploring the psychometric properties of the TCSQ patient in other chronic medical conditions.”

The COVID-19 pandemic increased phone-based appointments in patients with IBD. To gauge patient satisfaction with phone appointments, an expert committee comprised three gastroenterology care professionals, two patients with IBD, and two healthcare researchers developed the TCSQ patient.

An earlier pilot study assessed the readability and usability of the adapted questionnaire. Afterward, 87 patients with IBD from Saskatchewan completed an online survey consisting of the 16-item TCSQ patient and a single overall item on phone care satisfaction. This survey was used to evaluate the tool’s validity and reliability.

The standardized level of phone care satisfaction, as measured by the 16 items, strongly correlated with the overall item, according to the study, and the tool showed optimal internal reliability.

“The items of the TCSQ patient were related, as per the strong correlation among all the items of the questionnaire, and the construct was confirmed by a strong correlation found between the 16-item standardized score of the TCSQ patient and the overall telephone care satisfaction item,” the authors wrote.

Exploratory factor analysis revealed two dimensions of the TCSQ patient: 11 items focused on phone care usefulness, and five items focused on phone care convenience.

“This questionnaire is the first validated tool to measure patients’ satisfaction with telephone care. This questionnaire demonstrated excellent psychometric properties with evidence of its validity and reliability,” the researchers wrote. “Our results allow us to recommend the use of the TCSQ patient in further studies assessing satisfaction with telephone care.