The Effect of Healthcare Professionals’ Digital Literacy and Knowledge of Telemedicine on Perception of Telemedicine

Abstract

Objective: The objective is to determine levels of digital literacy, knowledge and perception of telemedicine, becoming important with innovations in communication and information technologies, and to reveal correlations between them. In addition, the effect of telemedicine experience on the perception of telemedicine constitutes another purpose of this study. Method: In the study, data was collected cross-sectionally, via on-line and face-to-face surveys. 334 healthcare workers from one tertiary and two second-line hospitals were included in the study. For data analysis, structural validity of items was evaluated. Item reliability was evaluated by calculating Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient. Correlations between variables were tested with structural equation model. To determine differences between groups, two sample t-tests were used. Findings: Results of Structural Equation Model showed a positive correlation between digital literacy and knowledge of telemedicine, and between knowledge of telemedicine and perception of telemedicine. Knowledge of telemedicine was found to mediate the relationship between digital literacy and perception of telemedicine. In this study, perception of telemedicine (x̄= 3.392) and digital literacy level (x̄= 3.527) were found to be above average, while knowledge of telemedicine was found to be below average (x̄= 2.090). Perception of telemedicine was found to increase positively in participants with telemedicine experience (t(332) = 4.979, p