JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global threat. Internet hospitals have emerged as a critical technology to bring epidemic-related online services and medical support to the public. However, there is little and very new scientific literature exploring the effects of internet hospitals on psychological burden and disease cognition in major public health emergencies like COVID-19.

Objective:

The aim of this study is to explore the role of internet hospitals in relieving psychological burden and increasing disease cognition during the early outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

This survey was conducted from January 26, 2020 to February 1, 2020, which was the early outbreak of COVID-19 in China. The platform used to the consultation was the WeChat public account of our hospital. People all over the country could apply for the free consultation as long as they had access to the WeChat. The procedure of free COVID-19 consultation services was as follows: First, people must answer a list of questions to exclude the possibility of COVID-19. Next, the participant was directed to complete the self-report questionnaire after confirmation of their willingness to participate voluntarily. Then, clinicians would communicated with people on their symptoms and psychological state, whether they developed COVID-19, prevention and control of the disease, and whatever questions until the people actively ends the online consultation. Finally, the participant was directed to complete the self-report questionnaire again. The questionnaire included: general information, general health questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28), their worries, disease cognition and medical needs.

Results:

The total number of internet consultation was 4120. The consultation content mainly included 60.4%(2489/4120) respiratory symptoms such as cough, expectoration and fever and 24.8% (1023/4120) disease knowledge, anxiety and fear. A total of 1530 people filled out questionnaires before and after internet consultation. 91.4% (1398/1530) of the people had psychological stress reaction before internet consultation, which was significantly higher than that after consultation (17.0%, 260/1530) (χ2=1704.800, P<.001). There was no significant difference in the percentage of people who expressed worry about the COVID-19 pandemic before and after internet consultation (χ2=0.710, P=.43). However, the degree of worry after internet consultation was significantly alleviated than that before internet consultation (t=90.638, P=<.001). The main worries before and after consultation were the disease’s danger and the risk for family and relatives to be infected. The scores of self-assessment risk after internet consultation was significantly lower than those before consultation (t=95.694, P=<.001). After consultation, the people' cognition of the symptoms, transmission routes and preventive measures of COVID-19 was higher than that before consultation, the difference was statistically significant (t=-106.105, -80.456 and -152.605 respectively, all P=<.001). The score of medical needs after internet consultation was (1.6 ± 0.8), lower than that before consultation (3.3 ± 1.2), the difference was statistically significant (t=45.765, P<.001).

Conclusions:

During the early outbreak of COVID-19, internet hospital can help relieving psychological burden and increasing disease cognition of people through timely and rapid spread of COVID-19 prevention and control knowledge. Internet hospitals should be an important part of a new medical model in public health emergency system. Clinical Trial: Not applicable.