Assessment of awareness and acceptance of teleconsultation among public: A cross sectional study

Abstract

Telemedicine is the delivery of healthcare services, where distance is a basic factor, by all medical care experts utilizing information and communication technologies for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases and infirmities. Telecommunications are used in doctor-patient interactions in telemedicine. It is a new way of delivering healthcare services across geographical boundaries, and it's being utilised to make healthcare services more accessible to those who don't have access to such services in their residential areas. The study was done to assess awareness and acceptance of teleconsultation among public. A total of 200 samples were selected for this study from Vaikom Taluk in Kottayam district. Convenient sampling procedure was used for this method. People who contacted doctors for their treatment during COVID-19 were included in the study. The participants were briefed about the study and informed consent was obtained from them. The questionnaire consisted of 10 questions. The questions were asked to assess awareness and acceptance of teleconsultation.The study concluded that most of the participants are aware about teleconsultation and accepted this technology as treatment procedure.