Attitudes and experience of paramedical students toward telehealth in education, a cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION

Telehealth refers to the use of telecommunication technologies to deliver healthcare services, provider and patient education, and information. Paramedical students' perspectives are key, as their readiness affects the future success of telehealth in clinical practice. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes and experiences of paramedical students toward telehealth.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted from October 2024 to February 2025. Data were collected using a previously validated questionnaire developed by Rettinger et al. (2024). The questionnaire consisted of 18 items that addressed demographic information, respondents' ICT competence, interest in telehealth, perceived knowledge, the importance and applications of telehealth, previous telehealth experiences, and three open-ended questions exploring students' perspectives on telehealth. The questionnaire was administered online. A survey link was emailed to eligible students who had expressed interest in participating. Completing the survey took approximately 15 min. To ensure validity, the face validity of the questionnaire was reviewed by five faculty members. Reliability was evaluated through the test-retest method over a 10-day interval, yielding a Cronbach's alpha of 0.78. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.

RESULTS

A total of 132 students responded to the survey (response rate: 100%). 72.7% of the students were very or relatively interested in telehealth. 77.3% considered telehealth important during their studies. However, only 11.4% reported actual experience with telehealth programs in their field. The Kruskal-Wallis H test showed significant differences across education levels in terms of perceived knowledge (P = 0.014) and perceived importance of telehealth in education (P = 0.042).

CONCLUSION

Despite high levels of interest and generally positive attitudes, students reported limited experience and exposure of telehealth. These findings highlight the importance of integrating telehealth education into paramedical training.