JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Telehealth, in the form of increased teleconsultation and medical telemonitoring, was promoted during the COVID-19 health crisis in France in order to ensure continued access to care for the population. Due to the novelty of new information and communication technologies that transform the physician/patient relation and their promotion in health policies, there is a need to better understand public attitude toward them and the relation with their current experience of healthcare.

Objective:

This study aimed to determine the French general population’s perception of the usefulness of video recording/broadcasting (VRB) and mobile Health (mHealth) applications (apps) for medical consultations in France during the COVID-19 health crisis, and the factors associated with this perception.

Methods:

Data were collected for 2 003 people in two waves of an online survey alongside the Health Literacy Survey 2019 (1 003 in May 2020 + 1 000 in January 2021). The perceived usefulness of VRB in medical consultations was measured by combining two responses concerning this technology for consultations. The perceived usefulness of mHealth apps was measured by combining two responses concerning their usefulness for booking doctor appointments and for communicating patient-reported outcomes to doctors.

Results:

The majority (62.0%) of respondents considered the use of mHealth apps useful, while only 27.6% declared VRB useful. The factors associated with perceived usefulness of both technologies were younger age, trust in political representatives, and higher health literacy. The period of the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, living in an urban area, and being limited in daily activities were also associated with perceiving VRB positively. The perceived usefulness of mHealth apps increased with education level. It was also higher in persons with three or more consultations with a medical specialist.

Conclusions:

There is important difference of attitudes toward the technologies associated with new information and communication technologies. Perceived usefulness was lower for VRB than for mHealth apps. The perceived usefulness of the VRB decreased after the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also the possibility of new inequalities. Hence, despite the potential benefits of VRB and mHealth apps, people with poor health literacy considered it to be of little use for their healthcare, which can increase the difficulty of healthcare access in the future.