Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, United States.
J Med Internet Res. 2024 May 23;26:e50205. doi: 10.2196/50205.
Telehealth (telemedicine and telepharmacy) services increase access to patient services and ensure continuity of care. However, few studies have assessed factors that influence patients' willingness to use telehealth services, and we sought to investigate this.
This study aims to examine respondents' (aged between 45 and 75 years) willingness to use telehealth services (telepharmacy and telemedicine) and the correlates of the willingness to use telehealth services.
We administered a cross-sectional national survey of 1045 noninstitutionalized US adults aged between 45 and 75 years in March and April 2021. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to identify demographic and health service use correlates of self-reported willingness to use telehealth services.
Overall willingness to use telemedicine was high (674/1045, 64.5%). Adults aged 55 years and older were less willing to use telemedicine (aged between 55 and 64 years: odds ratio [OR] 0.61, 95% CI 0.42-0.86; aged 65 years or older: OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.22-0.49) than those younger than 55 years. Those with a regular provider (OR 1.01, 95% CI 1-1.02) and long travel times (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.03-2.98) were more willing to use telemedicine compared to those without a regular provider and had shorter travel times, respectively. Willingness to use telemedicine services increased from 64.5% (674/1045) to 83% (867/1045) if the service was low-cost or insurance-covered, was with their existing health care provider, or was easy-to-use. Overall willingness to use telepharmacy was 76.7% (801/1045). Adults aged older than 55 years were less willing to use telepharmacy (aged between 55 and 64 years: OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.38-0.86; aged 65 years or older: OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.15-0.37) than those younger than 55 years. Those who rated pharmacy service quality higher were more willing to use telepharmacy (OR 1.06, 95% CI 1.03-1.09) than those who did not.
Respondents were generally willing to use telehealth (telemedicine and telepharmacy) services, but the likelihood of their being willing to use telehealth decreased as they were older. For those initially unwilling (aged 55 years or older) to use telemedicine services, inexpensive or insurance-covered services were acceptable.
远程医疗（远程医疗和远程配药）服务增加了患者获得服务的机会，并确保了医疗服务的连续性。然而，很少有研究评估影响患者使用远程医疗服务意愿的因素，我们试图对此进行研究。
本研究旨在调查（年龄在 45 岁至 75 岁之间）受访者使用远程医疗服务（远程配药和远程医疗）的意愿，以及与使用远程医疗服务意愿相关的因素。
我们于 2021 年 3 月至 4 月期间对 1045 名年龄在 45 岁至 75 岁之间的非住院美国成年人进行了一项全国性的横断面调查。采用多因素逻辑回归分析来确定自我报告使用远程医疗服务意愿的人口统计学和卫生服务使用相关因素。
总体而言，使用远程医疗的意愿较高（674/1045，64.5%）。55 岁及以上的成年人比 55 岁以下的成年人更不愿意使用远程医疗（55-64 岁：比值比[OR]0.61，95%置信区间[CI]0.42-0.86；65 岁及以上：OR 0.33，95%CI 0.22-0.49）。与没有常规提供者且旅行时间较短的人相比，有常规提供者（OR 1.01，95%CI 1-1.02）和较长旅行时间（OR 1.75，95%CI 1.03-2.98）的人更愿意使用远程医疗。如果服务费用低廉或保险覆盖、与现有医疗保健提供者合作或易于使用，使用远程医疗服务的意愿从 64.5%（674/1045）增加到 83%（867/1045）。总体而言，愿意使用远程配药的比例为 76.7%（801/1045）。55 岁以上的成年人比 55 岁以下的成年人更不愿意使用远程配药（55-64 岁：OR 0.57，95%CI 0.38-0.86；65 岁及以上：OR 0.24，95%CI 0.15-0.37）。那些对药房服务质量评价较高的人更愿意使用远程配药（OR 1.06，95%CI 1.03-1.09），而那些评价较低的人则不太愿意使用远程配药。
受访者通常愿意使用远程医疗（远程医疗和远程配药）服务，但随着年龄的增长，他们愿意使用远程医疗服务的可能性降低。对于那些最初不愿意（55 岁及以上）使用远程医疗服务的人来说，费用低廉或保险覆盖的服务是可以接受的。
