Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple countries have taken measures, such as isolation and quarantine, to prevent person-to-person spread of disease. These actions forced many physicians to adopt new techniques, such as telemedicine, to continue patient care, which has proven to be useful in continued care for those with non-COVID-19 pathologies. Various factors, such as security, confidentiality, cost-effectiveness, comfort, and the risk of malpractice, influence the perception of telemedicine among medical practitioners. The aim of this study was to adapt an existing instrument and validate it into a new Spanish version. The instrument is about the perceptions and knowledge of telemedicine in healthcare professionals. Methods The original questionnaire surveyed 6 domains with 40 questions, and each question was measured with a five-point Likert scale ranging from very high [5] to very low [1]. The survey was translated to Spanish using machine translation. The translation was reviewed independently, and then, a consensus was achieved regarding minor changes in the syntax of the survey to facilitate understanding. After expert feedback and questionnaire review, the research team members proposed reducing the instrument to 13 items in 4 domains due to the similarity of some questions. The sample was divided into 2randomly selected groups. Eligibility criteria included physicians providing private or public services with active medical/clinical practice. Results In total, 382 surveys were collected and separated into two random samples, S1 and S2 (198 and 184, respectively). In exploratory factor analysis (EFA), the 13 items were grouped into four theoretical domains, and item 7 presented cross loading between factors and was removed. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to assess the scale reliability and interscale associations; three models were tested. Global Cronbach’s alpha for internal consistency was 0.76 for the EFA. The goodness of fit measures root mean square error of approximation and comparative fit index were 0.009 and 0.999, respectively, for the best model. Conclusions The translated instrument was clear, with adequate internal consistency, readability, and appropriate for application in the physician setting. This validated questionnaire made it possible to evaluate physicians’ knowledge of telemedicine to increase its use, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background During the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple countries has taken measures, such as isolation and quarantine to prevent person-to-person spread of disease. This forced many physicians to adopt new techniques to continue patient care, such as telemedicine, that has proven to be useful in continued care of non-COVID 19 pathologies. Different factors influence the perception of telemedicine in medical practitioners such as security, confidentiality, cost-effectiveness issues, comfort, and the risk of malpractice. Methods The original questionnaire included 6 domains with 40 questions, each question was measured with a five-point likert-scale ranging from very high [5] to very low [1]. Consequently, the survey was translated to spanish using machine translation (MT). The translation was reviewed independently and then a consensus was made regarding minor changes in the syntax of the survey to facilitate understanding. After the expert feedback and questionnaire indicators, the research team members proposed to reduce the instrument to 13-items in 4 domains, due similarity of questions. The sample was divided into 2 groups, randomly selected. Results The 382 surveys were collected and separated in two random samples, S1 and S2, (198 and 184 respectively). In exploratory factor analysis (EFA) the 13-items are grouped into the four theoretical domains, item 7 presented cross loading between factors and was removed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to assess scale reliability and inter scale associations; three models were tested. Conclusions The translated instrument was clear, with adequate internal consistency, readability, and appropriate to be applied in the physician setting. This validated questionnaire made it possible to evaluate the real knowledge of telemedicine in order to increase its use, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic.