Parental Acceptance of Telemedicine in Pediatric Surgery and Its Implications for Future Care Models: Survey Study
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Background: Digitalization has profoundly transformed health care delivery, including the increasing use of telemedical applications in pediatric care. While the economic benefits and improved access associated with telemedicine in rural regions are well documented, data on caregiver acceptance and demand in metropolitan areas remain limited. Objective: This study aimed to assess caregivers' willingness to use telemedical tools in the context of pediatric surgery in a metropolitan area. Methods: A 15-item survey was distributed to caregivers of pediatric surgical patients between May and November 2023 at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. The survey included questions on sociodemographic factors, previous experience with telemedicine, and preferences regarding telemedical support. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Group comparisons were performed using the χ2 test or Fisher exact test, where appropriate. Results: A total of 100 families participated in the study. The median age of the pediatric patients was 5 years (IQR 11.75), and the median age of caregivers was 37 years (IQR 14). Congenital conditions accounted for 65% (n=65) of the underlying diagnoses. Overall, 90% (n=88/98) of the interviewed families expressed interest in telemedicine as an integrative health care solution for their children, whereas only 15% (n=15) reported on previous experiences. A primary telemedical consultation was considered acceptable by 53% (n=50/95) of the participants. Caregivers' preferences were not significantly associated with distance to the nearest hospital (P=.77), employment status (P=.89), and family size (P=.59). Conclusions: Caregivers in an urban pediatric surgical setting show substantial interest in telemedical care options. Acceptance appears to be independent of geographic proximity to health care facilities, suggesting that telemedicine may represent a relevant addition to pediatric surgical care even in metropolitan regions. Further studies are needed to evaluate practical implementation, including technical, legal, and compliance-related aspects.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.004 | 0.009 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".