A cardiovascular clinic patients’ survey to assess challenges and opportunities of digital health adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 boosted healthcare digitalization and personalization in cardiology. However, understanding patient attitudes and engagement behaviors is essential to achieve successful acceptance and implementation of digital health technologies in personalized care. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand current and future trends in wearable device and telemedicine use in the cardiology clinic patient population, recognize patients’ attitude towards digital health before and after COVID-19, and identify potential socioeconomic and racial/ethnic differences in adoption of digital health tools in a New Orleans patient population. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to Tulane Cardiology Clinic patients between September 2020 and January 2021. Basic demographic information, medical comorbidities, device usage, and opinions on digital health tools were collected. RESULTS: Survey responses from 299 participants (average age = 54 years, 50.8% female, 24.4% African American) showed that digital health use was more prevalent in younger, healthier, and more educated individuals. Wearable use was also higher among White patients compared to African American patients. Patients cited costs and technology knowledge as primary deterrents for using wearables, despite being more inclined to use wearables for disease monitoring (41%). While wearable use did not increase after COVID-19 (36.6% pre-COVID vs 35.4% post-COVID, P = .77), telemedicine use rose significantly (10.8% pre-COVID vs 24.3% during COVID, P < .0001). Patients mostly noted telemedicine’s effectiveness in overcoming difficult healthcare access barriers. Additionally, most patients are in support of wearables and telemedicine either complementing or replacing routine tests and traditional clinical visits. CONCLUSION: Demographic and socioeconomic disparities negatively impact wearable health device and telemedicine adoption within cardiovascular clinic patients. Although telemedicine use increased after COVID-19, this effect was not observed for wearables, reflecting significant economic and digital literacy challenges underlying wearable acceptance.