21 - Family Use of Remote Infant Viewing in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit:
 Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Patient Room Type

Poster Number: 21
Publication Number: 21.338

Rahul Patel, Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine, Scottsdale, AZ, United States; Beth L. Kreofsky, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States; Katie M. Morgan, Mayo Clinic Children's Center, Zumbrota, MN, United States; Carrie Sanvick, Mayo Clinic Children's Center, Rochester, MN, United States; Amy L. Weaver, Mayo Clinic Children's Center, Kasson, MN, United States; Jane E. Brumbaugh, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States; Jennifer Fang, Mayo Clinic Children's Center, Rochester, MN, United States

Background: Remote infant viewing (RIV) uses a bedside camera to allow family members to view a livestream video of their neonate 24/7 from anywhere with internet access.

Objective: We aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on family use of RIV in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and examined whether RIV use varied by patient room type. We hypothesized that the COVID-19 pandemic increased the frequency of RIV use and that RIV was used more frequently for neonates in an open bay versus single patient room.

Design/Methods: Use of RIV (AngelEye Health) was evaluated for patients in the NICU between 10/01/2019 and 3/31/2021. The date/time stamp of every RIV was exported from the AngelEye database along with view duration if the application or browser was closed. For the analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, (a) March 2020 data was excluded as a “washout period” to account for the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (b) the monthly number of views per patient-day was calculated using the monthly aggregate NICU patient-days. The RIV data was then linked to the patient’s room type at the time of each RIV. For each patient, the number of views and total view duration were expressed as a ratio of their room type-specific patient-days.

Results: Among 980 patients in the NICU during the study period, 721 (73.6%) had a total of 232,955 camera views, and 62.9% of views had a duration. The median (IQR) number of views per patient-days was 12.5 (5.4, 26.0), with a single camera view lasting a median (IQR) of 64.5 seconds (16.7 seconds, 4.5 minutes).
 
Considering the entire NICU census, the proportion of infants in the NICU with at least one RIV increased substantially during the pandemic (p < 0.001) and the monthly number of views per patient-days increased significantly during the pandemic (p=0.003, Figure 1).
 
When comparing RIV use by room type, the median number of views per patient-days was higher for open bay than single patient rooms (13.5 versus 10.5; p< 0.001; Table1). In addition, the median view duration (in minutes) per patient-days was longer for patients in an open bay room (21.8 versus 12.2; p< 0.001; Table 1).Conclusion(s): Use of RIV in the NICU increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Families with newborns in an open bay room used RIV more frequently and for longer duration than families with newborns in a single patient room. RIV allows families to observe their newborn when hospital visitor restrictions are in place or when in-person bedside visits may be less private or not allow for social distancing.
Figure 1. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the proportion of NICU patients with at least one RIV (left y-axis, blue line) and number of camera views per total patient-days (right y-axis, red line). Both measures increased significantly during the pandemic period (p < 0.001 and p=0.003, respectively).
Table 1. Family use of RIV in the NICU based on room type, i.e., open bay versus single patient room.†Of the 721 patients, 53 were only in an open bay room, 451 were only in a single patient room, 217 were in both during their stay in the NICU.

‡Regression models were fit to compare number and duration of camera views (offset by room type-specific patient-days) between the room types using generalized estimating equation methodology.