Outpatients’ Opinion And Experience Regarding Telepharmacy During The COVID-19 Pandemic: The Enopex Project

Abstract

Background Telepharmacy, as a remote pharmaceutical care procedure, is being used worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of preserving the health of patients and professionals. Its future development should incorporate the assessment of patient perception, but no research study has investigated it. Objective The objective was to poll the opinions and experiences of outpatients with telepharmacy through a purpose-developed questionnaire and to assess it’s quality through an internal validity and reliability analysis. Methods Cross-sectional observational study of adult patients who used telepharmacy services during the COVID-19 lockdown period in Spain. The subjects answered a 24-item questionnaire, after giving their informed consent. Place of delivery, informed pharmacotherapeutic follow-up, opinion about telepharmacy, future development, ethics/satisfaction, and coordination constituted the six questionnaire categories. After assessing the adequate sample size with the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test, the Bartlett sphericity test analyzed the validity of the questionnaire. The intraclass correlation coefficient and Cronbach’s α coefficient calculations verified the reliability and internal consistency. Results A total of 9442 interviews were administered to patients from 81 hospitals, of which 8079 were valid (52.8% female). A 54.1% were aged between 41–65 years; 42.7% had been in treatment for more than 5 years; 42.8% lived between 6–31 miles from the hospital. As many as 96.7% of patients were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with telepharmacy, 97.5% considering it complementary to their usual follow-up; 55.9% expressed a preference for being followed up face to face when visiting the hospital. 75.6% said they had rather receive their medication at home. The sample size obtained was deemed appropriate [the Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin test (0.789) and Bartlett’s sphericity test (p<0.005)]. The reliability analysis resulted in a Cronbach α = 0.7. Conclusion Patients have shown high satisfaction with telepharmacy and the ENOPEX questionnaire is a tool with sufficient validity and reliability to be used in the evaluation of the care that patients receive through telepharmacy.

Delayed and unmet prescription drug access linked to elevated anxiety symptoms during COVID-19: Retrospective findings from the NLSY79 child and young adult cohort

“…Among adult patients utilizing telepharmacy services in Spain during COVID-19, 96.7% reported being “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their telepharmacy experiences. 33 Similarly high levels of satisfaction with telepharmacy have been found during COVID-19 among adult patients at specialized hospital clinics in Iran (77% favored telepharmacy while 23% favored in-person care), 34 and pre-COVID-19 among HIV outpatients undergoing treatment. 35 Telehealth, applying digital communications to deliver healthcare services remotely, and other virtual platforms have also demonstrated benefits for individuals with anxiety and depression.…”

Implementation of Telepharmacy to Provide Medication Consultation Service for Patients: A Case Study From Thu Duc City Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City

“…Patients are unfamiliar with or uncomfortable using technology and are concerned about the security and privacy of online interactions. These drawbacks have been previously pointed out by some studies [ 18 - 21 ]. This may explain why some people may not be aware of telepharmacy services or their benefits.…”

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Knowledge, Perceptions, and Readiness of Telepharmacy among Hospital Pharmacists in Saudi Arabia

“…Telepharmacy is a remote pharmaceutical care procedure. It has been used worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the aim of preserving the health of patients and professionals [ 21 ]. Dat et al reported that about 87% of pharmacists have used telepharmacy in their pharmacy practice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.…”