Summary of the main measures of clinical effectiveness
| Outcome measure at review | Telemedicine (n = 270) | Onsite specialist (n = 259) | General practitioner (n = 63) | p Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data shown as numbers, percentages, and 95% CI. | ||||
| Completely better | 67 (24.8) (19.8% to 30.4%) | 61 (23.6) (18.5% to 29.2%) | 10 (15.9) (7.9% to 27.3%) | 0.32 |
| Returned to normal activity | 127 (47.0) (41.0% to 53.2%) | 106 (40.9) (34.9% to 47.2%) | 30 (47.6) (34.9% to 60.6%) | 0.32 |
| Taken time off work | 91 (33.7) (28.1% to 39.7%) | 95 (36.7) (30.8% to 42.9%) | 18 (28.6) (17.9% to 41.3%) | 0.45 |
| Seen in an emergency department | 89 (33.0) (27.4% to 38.9%) | 74 (28.6) (23.2% to 34.5%) | 25 (39.7) (27.6% to 52.8%) | 0.20 |
| Seen in an outpatient clinic | 37 (13.7) (9.8% to 18.4%) | 41 (15.8) (11.6% to 20.9%) | 3 (4.8) (1.0% to 13.3%) | 0.07 |
| Seen in a general practitioner’s surgery or at home | 6 (2.2) (0.8% to 4.8%) | 10 (3.9) (1.9% to 7.0%) | 2 (3.2) (0.4% to 11.0%) | 0.55 |
| Sought further unscheduled care | 14 (5.2) (2.9% to 8.5%) | 15 (5.8) (3.3% to 9.4%) | 4 (6.3) (1.8% to 15.5%) | 0.91 |
| Required a change in treatment | 26 (9.6) (6.4% to 13.8%) | 17 (6.6) (3.9% to 10.3%) | 4 (6.3) (1.8% to15.5%) | 0.37 |