The paradox of project success despite lack of the "My Pathway" telehealth platform usage

Attitude, awareness, and knowledge of telemedicine among medical students: A systematic review of cross-sectional studies

Background and Aims

The success of every new technology depends on numerous factors, including specialists' knowledge and perceptions of the concept, acquired attitude skills, and work environments. This systematic review aimed to examine medical students' knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of telemedicine.

Methods

Studies were obtained from the PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Science databases on June 9, 2022. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Cross-sectional studies that examined medical students' knowledge, attitude, and perceptions of telemedicine approaches were considered inclusion criteria. Titles and abstracts were independently screened based on eligibility criteria. Articles that did not meet the inclusion criteria were excluded from this review. After that, the complete texts were retrieved and screened by two separate researchers based on the eligibility criteria. Disputes were resolved by discussion. The same checklist was used for data extraction. To assess the quality of the studies entering this study, the Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklist for analytical cross-sectional studies was used.

Results

In total, 10 eligible articles were found through this review. The sample size of the studies ranged from 60 to 3312 participants, or 6172 participants on the whole. The medical students' attitudes toward telemedicine were evaluated in eight included studies. Many of these studies (seven cases) reported positive and promising perspectives on telemedicine. However, in one study, participants revealed moderate attitudes toward online health information and online health experience sharing (p < 0.05). Students' knowledge of the telemedicine approach was evaluated in eight included studies. Many of these studies (five cases) reported that students possessed an extensively poor knowledge of telemedicine's uses. In three other studies, two reported moderate and one disclosed desirable levels of students' knowledge. All the included studies attributed medical students' poor knowledge to the lack of, and thus failure of, educational courses in this field.

Conclusion

The evidence obtained from this review reveals that medical students possess positive and promising attitudes toward telemedicine technology for education, treatment, and care. However, their knowledge levels were extremely insufficient, and many had not passed any educational courses in this respect. Such results can foreground the health and education policymakers' obligations for planning, training, and empowering digital health and telemedicine literacy among medical students as the primary players in social health.

Sociotechnical Factors Affecting Patients' Adoption of Mobile Health Tools: Systematic Literature Review and Narrative Synthesis

BACKGROUND

Mobile health (mHealth) tools have emerged as a promising health care technology that may contribute to cost savings, better access to care, and enhanced clinical outcomes; however, it is important to ensure their acceptance and adoption to harness this potential. Patient adoption has been recognized as a key challenge that requires further exploration.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this review was to systematically investigate the literature to understand the factors affecting patients' adoption of mHealth tools by considering sociotechnical factors (from technical, social, and health perspectives).

METHODS

A structured search was completed following the participants, intervention, comparators, and outcomes framework. We searched the MEDLINE, PubMed, Cochrane Library, and SAGE databases for studies published between January 2011 and July 2021 in the English language, yielding 5873 results, of which 147 studies met the inclusion criteria. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines and the Cochrane Handbook were followed to ensure a systematic process. Extracted data were analyzed using NVivo (QSR International), with thematic analysis and narrative synthesis of emergent themes.

RESULTS

The technical factors affecting patients' adoption of mHealth tools were categorized into six key themes, which in turn were divided into 20 subthemes: usefulness, ease of use, data-related, monetary factors, technical issues, and user experience. Health-related factors were categorized into six key themes: the disease or health condition, the care team's role, health consciousness and literacy, health behavior, relation to other therapies, integration into patient journey, and the patients' insurance status. Social and personal factors were divided into three key clusters: demographic factors, personal characteristics, and social and cultural aspects; these were divided into 19 subthemes, highlighting the importance of considering these factors when addressing potential barriers to mHealth adoption and how to overcome them.

CONCLUSIONS

This review builds on the growing body of research that investigates patients' adoption of mHealth services and highlights the complexity of the factors affecting adoption, including personal, social, technical, organizational, and health care aspects. We recommend a more patient-centered approach by ensuring the tools' fit into the overall patient journey and treatment plan, emphasizing inclusive design, and warranting comprehensive patient education and support. Moreover, empowering and mobilizing clinicians and care teams, addressing ethical data management issues, and focusing on health care policies may facilitate adoption.