Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience

Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in an increased demand for telemedicine worldwide. Telemedicine is a technology-based virtual platform that allows the exchange of clinical data and images over remote distances. This study aims to examine the impact of the perceived risk of COVID-19 on t...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Hosseinzadeh, Hassan, Ratan, Zubair Ahmed, Nahar, Kamrun, Dadich, Ann, Al-Mamun, Abdullah, Ali, Searat, Niknami, Marzieh, Verma, Iksheta, Edwards, Joseph, Shnaigat, Mahmmoud, Malak, Md Abdul, Rahman, Md Mustafizur, Okely, Anthony
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9960459/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36833755
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043061
_version_ 1784895519049383936
author Hosseinzadeh, Hassan
Ratan, Zubair Ahmed
Nahar, Kamrun
Dadich, Ann
Al-Mamun, Abdullah
Ali, Searat
Niknami, Marzieh
Verma, Iksheta
Edwards, Joseph
Shnaigat, Mahmmoud
Malak, Md Abdul
Rahman, Md Mustafizur
Okely, Anthony
author_facet Hosseinzadeh, Hassan
Ratan, Zubair Ahmed
Nahar, Kamrun
Dadich, Ann
Al-Mamun, Abdullah
Ali, Searat
Niknami, Marzieh
Verma, Iksheta
Edwards, Joseph
Shnaigat, Mahmmoud
Malak, Md Abdul
Rahman, Md Mustafizur
Okely, Anthony
author_sort Hosseinzadeh, Hassan
collection PubMed
description Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in an increased demand for telemedicine worldwide. Telemedicine is a technology-based virtual platform that allows the exchange of clinical data and images over remote distances. This study aims to examine the impact of the perceived risk of COVID-19 on telemedicine use in Bangladesh. Methods: This explanatory study was conducted in hospital settings across Dhaka city in Bangladesh. Patients were eligible to participate if they were aged 18 years or over and had used telemedicine in a hospital at least once since the COVID-19 outbreak. Outcome variables included sociodemographic, the perceived risk of COVID-19, and telehealth use. Study data were collected using an online and paper-based survey. Results: A total of 550 patients participated in this study, mostly male (66.4%), single (58.2%), and highly educated (74.2%). The means of the different domains of telemedicine use reflected a high degree of perceived benefit, accessibility, and satisfaction but a lower degree of privacy and discomfort, care personnel expertise, and usability. COVID 19 perceived risk predicted between 13.0% and 26.6% of variance in telemedicine domains, while the effects of demographic variables were controlled or removed. The perceived risk of COVID-19 was negatively correlated with privacy and discomfort, as well as care personnel concerns. Low and high levels of perceived COVID-19 risk were less likely to encourage the use of telemedicine as a risk reduction tool. Discussion: The participants were mainly satisfied with telemedicine, finding it beneficial and accessible; however, many were concerned about privacy, care personnel expertise, and its usability. The perceived risk of COVID-19 was a strong predictor (contributor) of telemedicine use, suggesting that risk perception can be used to encourage telemedicine use as a risk reduction strategy during pandemics; however, a medium level of risk was more promising.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9960459
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-99604592023-02-26 Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience Hosseinzadeh, Hassan Ratan, Zubair Ahmed Nahar, Kamrun Dadich, Ann Al-Mamun, Abdullah Ali, Searat Niknami, Marzieh Verma, Iksheta Edwards, Joseph Shnaigat, Mahmmoud Malak, Md Abdul Rahman, Md Mustafizur Okely, Anthony Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak resulted in an increased demand for telemedicine worldwide. Telemedicine is a technology-based virtual platform that allows the exchange of clinical data and images over remote distances. This study aims to examine the impact of the perceived risk of COVID-19 on telemedicine use in Bangladesh. Methods: This explanatory study was conducted in hospital settings across Dhaka city in Bangladesh. Patients were eligible to participate if they were aged 18 years or over and had used telemedicine in a hospital at least once since the COVID-19 outbreak. Outcome variables included sociodemographic, the perceived risk of COVID-19, and telehealth use. Study data were collected using an online and paper-based survey. Results: A total of 550 patients participated in this study, mostly male (66.4%), single (58.2%), and highly educated (74.2%). The means of the different domains of telemedicine use reflected a high degree of perceived benefit, accessibility, and satisfaction but a lower degree of privacy and discomfort, care personnel expertise, and usability. COVID 19 perceived risk predicted between 13.0% and 26.6% of variance in telemedicine domains, while the effects of demographic variables were controlled or removed. The perceived risk of COVID-19 was negatively correlated with privacy and discomfort, as well as care personnel concerns. Low and high levels of perceived COVID-19 risk were less likely to encourage the use of telemedicine as a risk reduction tool. Discussion: The participants were mainly satisfied with telemedicine, finding it beneficial and accessible; however, many were concerned about privacy, care personnel expertise, and its usability. The perceived risk of COVID-19 was a strong predictor (contributor) of telemedicine use, suggesting that risk perception can be used to encourage telemedicine use as a risk reduction strategy during pandemics; however, a medium level of risk was more promising. MDPI 2023-02-09 /pmc/articles/PMC9960459/ /pubmed/36833755 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043061 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Hosseinzadeh, Hassan
Ratan, Zubair Ahmed
Nahar, Kamrun
Dadich, Ann
Al-Mamun, Abdullah
Ali, Searat
Niknami, Marzieh
Verma, Iksheta
Edwards, Joseph
Shnaigat, Mahmmoud
Malak, Md Abdul
Rahman, Md Mustafizur
Okely, Anthony
Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title_full Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title_fullStr Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title_full_unstemmed Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title_short Telemedicine Use and the Perceived Risk of COVID-19: Patient Experience
title_sort telemedicine use and the perceived risk of covid-19: patient experience
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9960459/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36833755
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20043061
work_keys_str_mv AT hosseinzadehhassan telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT ratanzubairahmed telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT naharkamrun telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT dadichann telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT almamunabdullah telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT alisearat telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT niknamimarzieh telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT vermaiksheta telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT edwardsjoseph telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT shnaigatmahmmoud telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT malakmdabdul telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT rahmanmdmustafizur telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience
AT okelyanthony telemedicineuseandtheperceivedriskofcovid19patientexperience