Work

Knowledge and Attitude of Health Professionals toward Telemedicine in Resource-Limited Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in North West Ethiopia

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Background: In resource-limited environments, such as those categorized as underdeveloped countries, telemedicine becomes viewed as effective channel for utilizing the scarce medical resources and infrastructures. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge and attitude toward telemedicine among cross section of health professionals' working in three hospitals in North West Ethiopia. Methods: value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Result: A total of 312 study subjects were approached and included in the study from November 13 to December 10, and the response rate was 95.5%. The majority of respondents (195 (65.4%)) were male, and the majority of the respondents (66.1%) were in the age group of 21-29 years. A large number of respondents (224 (75%)) were bachelor's degree holders. Only 37.6% of the respondents had demonstrated good knowledge of telemedicine, of which 74.1% were male, 65.2% of them were in the age group of 20-29 years, and 63.4% of them had >5 years of work experience. 191 (64.0%) respondents had good attitude toward telemedicine. Conclusion: The findings of the study suggest that although the respondents' knowledge of telemedicine is limited, most of them have good attitude toward telemedicine. This study underlined the need of giving training on telemedicine in order to fill the knowledge gap.

Source: Journal of Healthcare Engineering

DOI: 10.1155/2018/2389268

Authors: Kirubel Biruk, Eden Abetu

Institutions: Debre Markos University, University of Gondar

Language: English

Topic: Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,375