Anesthetists' awareness and readiness for telemonitoring in perioperative care: a web-based cross-sectional survey in Northwest Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

Telemonitoring is delivering healthcare services from a distance by all healthcare professionals using audio, video, and other information and communication technologies, and it has beneficial outcomes in anesthesia practice. However, in the Ethiopian context, studies on telemonitoring are few and confined to nurses and general auctioneers for follow-up of patients with chronic illness. Therefore, this study aims to assess the awareness and readiness of anesthetists working in Northwest Ethiopia to utilize telemonitoring for perioperative patient care.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

This web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 1 to December 30, 2022, in Amhara regional state hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia using a pretested, self-administered electronic-based questionnaire. The primary outcome variable was awareness of telemonitoring, which was assessed by a question to be answered in either ‘yes’ or ‘no’:‘. The secondary outcome variable was readiness to use telemonitoring, which was assessed using a scale labeled as high, moderate, and low readiness. Multilevel binary and ordinal and binary logistic regression were employed in the data analysis to identify the factors associated with awareness and readiness to use telemonitoring in perioperative care.

RESULTS

Of 172 anesthetists included, 83 (48.25%) reported being aware of telemonitoring. Regarding readiness to utilize telemonitoring, 25 (14.53%), 135 (78.49%), and 13 (6.98%), of the participants demonstrated high, moderate, and low-level readiness for telemonitoring, respectively. The study found that anesthetists who had personal computers (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 11.56, 95% CI: 2.30, 57.81), an internet access in their work area (AOR = 10.71, 95% CI: 3.11, 36.95), computer-related training (AOR = 3.88, 95% CI: 1.47, 10.73), and academic staff participants (AOR = 2.91, 95%CI: 1.05, 8.01) were significantly associated with the awareness of telemonitoring. The readiness to utilize telemonitoring was favorably correlated with variables of daily computer use (AOR = 1.56), receiving information technology support (AOR = 3.29) and positive attitude toward information communication technology in future healthcare (AOR = 4.30).

CONCLUSION

Nearly half of the anesthetists in Northwest Ethiopia were aware of telemonitoring; moreover, more than 90% of anesthetists demonstrate moderate to high readiness to this technology. We recommended that improving access to the internet, personal computers, and computer-related training, along with providing information technology support, will be crucial in fostering awareness and readiness for telemonitoring adoption.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-025-13003-1.