Knowledge and attitude of Saudi Arabian citizens towards telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Background The objective of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitudes of Saudi Arabian citizens towards telemedicine during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional survey was designed to carry out this study. The electronic survey, prepared using Google Forms, was distributed to 1500 randomly selected citizens of Saudi Arabia. A total of 330 participants completed and returned the questionnaire. Basic statistics were used to describe the data. Results The majority of the respondents (73.9%) were female. More than half of them (54.8%) were >35 y of age and had graduate or postgraduate degrees (65.5%). A total of 96.7% of the respondents were Saudis. Most of the participants (70.0%) were familiar with the term ‘telemedicine’ and thought that telemedicine (92.1%) could reduce transportation costs. Of the respondents, 58.8% had not seen a telemedicine system before and 67.0% indicated that they had not previously used telemedicine services. A total of 87.3% of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that telemedicine was a useful tool during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, more than half of the participants agreed or strongly agreed that telemedicine facilitates the diagnosis of people (58.8%), increases communication (58.2%), reduces clinic visits (85.9%) and performs tasks quickly (70.3%). Also, 51.5% of the respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that telemedicine affects patient privacy. Conclusions The outcomes indicated that most of the participants had a positive attitude towards the use of telemedicine as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. They believed that telemedicine saves time, labour and costs and is an effective tool to treat coronavirus patients at a safe distance. However, the government should develop programs to raise awareness in the population about the use of telemedicine for the treatment of various diseases that afflict the Saudi Arabian people. Likewise, a legal framework must be implemented to protect the privacy of patients and healthcare providers.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Jordanians Toward Adopting and Using Telemedicine: National Cross-sectional Study

“…We aimed to explore the levels of awareness, knowledge, and concerns of the general public toward telemedicine in an attempt to closely inspect the understanding of its potential recipients and providers of the concept of the technology and further evaluate the possibility of incorporating it into the current health system. Within the regional literature, studies conducted in Saudi Arabia and Egyptian populations showcased similar results to those of our study [ 30 , 31 ]. Similar results were also found among citizens of the United Arab Emirates [ 17 ].…”

“…However, significant proportions of both populations agreed, to an extent, that telemedicine poses a threat to patients’ privacy and may increase medical errors. Throughout the literature, especially studies conducted in response to the pandemic, it appears that the utility of telemedicine during disasters, its ability to reduce transportation time and costs, and its capacity to improve patient-doctor communication are consistently appreciated [ 30 ]. On the other hand, older Asian adults (ie, Chinese, Malaysian, and Indian participants) reported negative perceptions toward the utility and usefulness of telemedicine [ 34 ].…”

“…Also, the first domain examined the perceived level of competency with handling electronics using a 10-point scale. The second and third domains were primarily influenced by an exploration of attitudes toward telemedicine in Saudi Arabia [ 30 ]. The second domain was concerned with assessing the participants’ level of knowledge regarding telemedicine and its services.…”

“…The questionnaire was constructed after conducting an extensive literature review [29][30][31][32][33]. The questionnaire's first domain inquired about relevant sociodemographic variables of potential participants.…”

Health professionals knowledge of telemedicine and its associated factors working at private hospitals in resource-limited settings

“…This substantial difference might be due to sample size, study area and more than study subjects at private hospitals in this study have access to the internet and computer. In contrast, this finding is lower than studies done (17,18). This significant difference may be due to differences in information communication infrastructure, and socio-economic differences.…”