Abstract
Purpose :
Telemedicine is an emerging technology in the health sector in Mexico. The success of any new technology depends on many factors including the knowledge and understanding of the concept and attitude towards technology and working environment by the potential users. The objective of this study was to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward telemedicine among adults living in Guadalajara western Mexico.
Methods :
A cross-sectional survey was carried out among adults assisting to three commercial malls. A total of 143 non-health personnel were included in the study. A pre-validated self-administered questionnaire was used for the survey to assess the awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward concepts of telehealth, telemedicine and teleophthalmology. The questionnaires were administered by an interviewer in a face-to-face format. Completed questionnaires were analyzed as per the study objectives using descriptive statistics for the quantitative data and content analysis considering a p value equal or less than 0.05 as statistically significant.
Results :
A total of 148 patients completed the survey (78 females and 70 male) with a mean age of 43.2±15.5 years.. Overall, 78.4%of participants had used the Internet for a variety of reasins including some health-related issued and 74.3% had finished high school. The knowledge level of the respondents was found to be moderate (47.5%) regarding telemedicine and low (36.5%). To most of the respondents, self-care regarding health is relevant (84.4%), especially eye health care (91.9%). With regard to the attitude towards telemedicine 62% of the respondents possess high attitude, 21% possess moderate attitude and 17% possess low level of attitud toward telemedicine and telehealth programs.
Conclusions :
The current results suggest that although the respondents knowledge is very limited in telemedicine, a large proportion of them have positive attitude towards telemedicine and teleophthalmology. Education on new technology applied to health seems to be relevant to impulse lay-persons to use telemedcine faciliites when they are available.
This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.