Telemedicine satisfaction of primary care patients during COVID-19 pandemics

Objectives: To assess telemedicine satisfaction of patients from a primary health care center during COVID-19 pandemics. This work could bring information on its acceptance. Materials and methods: Transversal study with 253 individuals. A questionnaire was performed using Likert scale (1-very unsatisfied, 5-very satisfied) on patients with diabetes, hypertension and in subjects with other pathologies, whose consultations occurred between 01/04/2020 and 01/05/2020. Collected data included sociodemographics, previous telemedicine appointments, satisfaction levels of teleconsultation and doubt clarification, and interest in further telemedicine follow-up. In addition, a comparative analysis was performed between the periods January-February and April-May of 2020 in relation to age, sex, hypertension, diabetes and the type of contact (presential or remote). Statistics were performed using SPSS (R) and Excel (R). Results and discussion: Diabetes follow-up appointments accounted for 34.4% of total consultations. Globally there was a high level of satisfaction and interest in future telemedicine follow-up. However, diabetic and older patients were less interested in this type of follow-up. Statistically significant differences about satisfaction were found in age, sex and presence/absence of diabetes. 70.6% of healthy patients preferred contact by e-mail over telephone. A selection bias is present because no randomization was made. The higher prevalence of diabetes consultations and the lack of adjustment for confounding factors can also affect results. Number of consults between January-February and April-May was compared and the main result was the significant reduction in the number of face-to-face consultations for diabetes (-50.1%) and hypertension (-94.1%). Presential consultations decreased by 72.6% and nonpresential consultations increased by 61.9%. There was a selection bias because the sample was not random. The higher prevalence of diabetes consults and the lack of adjustment for confounders could affect results. Conclusions: This study allowed us to confirm the importance of telemedicine in primary health care, especially during pandemics. Participants recognized the usefulness of telemedicine and allowed future similar consultations. (C) 2021 Sociedad Espanola de Medicos de Atencion Primaria (SEMERGEN). Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. All rights reserved.