College of Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Dermatol Online J. 2021 Dec 15;27(12). doi: 10.5070/D3271256700.
There is limited information of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the general population's perceptions towards teledermatology. This study aims to assess the pandemic's impact on people's willingness to use teledermatology as well as to investigate influencing factors. We recruited 544 participants through Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and surveyed them using REDCap. Participants' willingness to use teledermatology before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic was measured via a 5-point Likert scale. The survey also included questions regarding factors influencing participants' attitudes towards teledermatology and their sociodemographic characteristics. Of the 185 participants who reported unwillingness to use teledermatology prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 79.2% and 66.5% became either neutral or willing to use teledermatology during and after the pandemic, respectively. Less than half of prior satisfactory telemedicine users reported willingness to use teledermatology before the pandemic; willingness to use teledermatology increased to 80.1% and 63.8% during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively. The top reason for lack of interest in teledermatology was concern for security and privacy (24.4%). Although a useful tool, teledermatology has been met with reluctance by the public. However, the unique circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have improved the public's perceptions and readiness to use teledermatology.
关于 COVID-19 大流行对普通人群对远程皮肤病学看法的影响，信息有限。本研究旨在评估大流行对人们使用远程皮肤病学意愿的影响，并调查影响因素。我们通过亚马逊 Mechanical Turk（MTurk）招募了 544 名参与者，并使用 REDCap 对他们进行了调查。通过 5 分制李克特量表测量参与者在 COVID-19 大流行之前、期间和之后使用远程皮肤病学的意愿。该调查还包括有关影响参与者对远程皮肤病学态度的因素及其社会人口统计学特征的问题。在 185 名报告在 COVID-19 大流行之前不愿意使用远程皮肤病学的参与者中，分别有 79.2%和 66.5%在大流行期间和之后变得中立或愿意使用远程皮肤病学。不到一半的先前满意的远程医疗用户报告在大流行之前愿意使用远程皮肤病学；在大流行期间和之后，愿意使用远程皮肤病学的比例分别增加到 80.1%和 63.8%。对远程皮肤病学缺乏兴趣的首要原因是对安全和隐私的担忧（24.4%）。尽管远程皮肤病学是一种有用的工具，但公众对其持不情愿的态度。然而，COVID-19 大流行的特殊情况改善了公众对远程皮肤病学的看法和使用准备。
