摘要Background:Nowadays,social media tools such as short message service,Twitter,video,and web-based systems are more and more used in clinical follow-up,making clinical follow-up much more time-and cost-effective than ever before.However,as the most popular social media in China,little is known about the utility of smartphone WeChat application in follow-up.In this study,we aimed to investigate the feasibility and superiority of WeChat application in clinical follow-up.Methods:A total of 108 patients diagnosed with head and neck tumor were randomized to WeChat follow-up (WFU) group or telephone follow-up (TFU) group for 6-month follow-up.The follow-ups were delivered by WeChat or telephone at 2 weeks,1,2,3,and 6 months to the patients after being discharged.The study measurements were time consumption for follow-up delivery,total economic cost,lost-to-follow-up rate,and overall satisfaction for the follow-up method.Results:Time consumption in WFU group for each patient (23.36 ± 6.16 min) was significantly shorter than that in TFU group (42.89 ± 7.15 min) (P ＜ 0.001);total economic cost in WFU group (RMB 90 Yuan) was much lower than that in TFU group (RMB 196 Yuan).Lost-to-follow-up rate in the WFU group was 7.02％ (4/57) compared with TFU group,9.80％ (5/51),while no significance was observed (95％ confidence interval [CI]:0.176-2.740;P =0.732).The overall satisfaction rate in WFU group was 94.34％ (50/53) compared with 80.43％ (37/46) in TFU group (95％ CI:0.057-0.067;P =0.034).Conclusions:The smartphone WeChat application was found to be a viable option for follow-up in discharged patients with head and neck tumors.WFU was time-effective,cost-effective,and convenient in communication.This doctor-led follow-up model has the potential to establish a good physician-patient relationship by enhancing dynamic communications and providing individual health instructions.