Telehealth Sterilization Consultation Does Not Impact Likelihood of Vasectomy: A Retrospective Institutional Analysis

OBJECTIVE To evaluate if telehealth consultations would impact the likelihood of patients following through with vasectomies.METHODS We utilized electronic medical records from the past 5 years to retrospectively evaluate male patients undergoing a sterilization consult. Telehealth consultations have been offered since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Patients were stratified to in-office or telehealth consultation. We then utilized billing codes to determine if patients underwent a vasectomy. Percentages of patients who subsequently underwent vasectomy were compared using Chi-square analysis. Logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with completing va-sectomy. RESULTS There were a total of 369 patients who underwent a telehealth male sterilization consultation and 1664 patients who were seen in the office. We found that 66.9% of telehealth patients ultimately underwent a vasectomy (n = 247) compared to 64.3% of patients who were seen via office assessment (n = 1070) (X2 = 0.646, p = .724). Younger age was the only variable on univariate logistic regression that was associated with completing vasectomy (p = .002) via either an in-person or televisit, while body mass index, race, and ethnicity were not significant.CONCLUSION Only 2/3 of the men completing a vasectomy consult receive a subsequent vasectomy. Both in-office and telehealth consultations resulted in comparable rates of vasectomy. This is the first study to report on the likelihood of following through with a surgical procedure comparing in-office vs telehealth assessment in male sexual and reproductive medicine. As vasectomy con-sultations continue to rise, clinicians can be reassured by the effectiveness of telehealth con-sultations prior to vasectomy.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.