Awareness, Attitude, and Perception of Telemedicine Among Trinidad and Tobago Population

Abstract

AbstractAimTo assess the awareness, attitude and perception of Trinidad and Tobago population towards telemedicineMethodA cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire on patients that visited health centres in the North Central region. A systematic random sampling method was used to select participants. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation were used to calculate categorical and continuous variables. Comparison between the categorical groups of the demographic variables for each of the three main outcome variables were analysed through one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Statistical significance was defined as P<0.05.ResultsA total of 528 participated in the study. Most (60%) of them were female, and aged 21 to 40 years (62.1%). Awareness of telemedicine was 34.4%, but the majority (82.5%) had never used telemedicine before. About half (51.3%) acknowledged the necessity of telemedicine but few (36.4%) were satisfied with the services. Most (64%) were willing to try mobile-based healthcare apps. Concerns over lack of familiarity with telemedicine platforms (44.5%) and result accuracy (15.5%) were the major barriers to using telemedicine. Awareness of telemedicine was significantly associated with being female (P < 0.001), a medical profession (P = 0.004), familiarity in use of computers (P = 0.004) and frequent interaction with doctors online (P < 0.001). Positive attitude towards telemedicine was associated with having a diploma, being a medical professional, being computer literate and frequent interaction with doctor online. Positive perception towards telemedicine was associated with marital status (Single or Previously Married) (P = 0.011), one’s ability to use the computer (P = 0.009), their level of competency in computer usage (P = 0.002), and frequency of interacting with doctors online (P < 0.002).ConclusionThe study revealed that although the level of telemedicine awareness is low, the majority of respondents demonstrated positive attitude and perception towards telemedicine. The findings suggest the need to educate the public on the benefits of telemedicine and create awareness of its use in T&T.