Perceptions Towards Using Telemedicine Services: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: This study set out to assess the population perceptions towards using telemedicine in KSA in terms of privacy and security when discussing sensitive and personal information, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-ups as well as how the use of this service was affected by certain demographic factors and the patients’ physical health condition.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed using an online questionnaire containing statements measuring the participants’ perceptions towards telemedicine. The participants were asked to indicate how comfortable they were when using telemedicine on a 4-point Likert scale starting from ‘extremely uncomfortable’ = 1 to ‘extremely comfortable’ = 4. A convenience sampling was used. The data were analyzed using descriptive and logistic regression to compare groups and to make inferences about the population.

Results: A total of 400 individuals completed the questionnaire. The majority of respondents (64%) had positive perceptions towards using telemedicine. The highest ranked statement was “Undergoing an initial clinic visit with a provider in the presence of my established physician” with a mean score of 3.66 out of 4 (0.664), followed by “Completing post-operative follow-up" with a mean score of 3.5 out of 4 (0.769). The logistic regression analysis showed that the participants who reported having better physical condition were more likely to be comfortable with using telemedicine (P-value < 0.05). However, other variables such as age, gender, nationality, occupation, level of education, transportation method, chronic disease, and type of chronic disease did not have a significant impact on the participants' likelihood to be comfortable with using telemedicine.

Conclusion: This study provided evidence that the majority of the citizens in KSA had positive perceptions using telemedicine and that their physical health condition appeared to influence the participants’ comfort using telemedicine as they were the ones more likely to be comfortable using the virtual clinics. On the other hand, demographic variables did not seem to influence their level of comfort using telemedicine. Further studies should investigate the uses of telemedicine among patients with acute and chronic diseases/conditions as well as to explore barriers to and motivators for using this approach to medical services.