Accentuate study

Accentuate study (Acceptability and feasibility of a paediatric teleotology service)

Type: Study administrating questionnaires/interviews/for quantitative analysis, or using mixed quantitative/qualitative methodology

Funder: Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT), Health Innovation Manchester, Ent UK and Tympa Health

Sponsor: MFT

Background

Presently, the ability for healthcare professionals to securely capture and share digital videos of patients’ eardrums is not widely available in the NHS. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the uptake of telemedicine in the UK, yet the potential impact of telemedicine for ear and hearing diseases (also known as Teleotology) in the paediatric population in an NHS setting has not been expressly investigated. To date, feasibility studies of teleotology have focused on adults or in children and young people in other countries.

Methods

We will recruit children and young people, and their parents and carers, accessing audiology services within MFT. Children and young people will undergo smartphone video-otoscopy during their ear and hearing assessments. Patients requiring a follow-up appointment with paediatric ENT specialists at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital will be offered a telemedicine appointment, during which the ENT specialist will use the information and the videos captured during their first appointment. Children, and their parents and carers, will then be invited to take part in a qualitative interview exploring their views and opinions on this model of care.

Further information

Babatunde.oremule@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk