Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perceptions of Medical Students on the

Use of Telemedicine: A Cross-Sectional Study

Aquino, Camille Anne, Co, Hanna Lee, Daud, Abdul Hafeez, Del Valle, Genesy, Divino, Klara,Duran, Marie Nicole, Fernandez, Hannah Mia Marie,
Florentino, April Rose Fatima, Fresnido, Fritz, Ilagan, Christia Marie, Lantano, Christian, Medalla, Lourdes, M.D.

Our Lady of Fatima University - Valenzuela

COLLEGE OF MEDICINE

ABSTRACT
Introduction: Despite telemedicine having revolutionized medical practices since its emergence and its contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philippines is still lagging
behind in its use. Assessing the medical students’ KAP regarding telemedicine will play an important role as they will most likely practice telemedicine in the near future.
Objectives: (1) To compare the KAP of 1st to 3rd year medical students with the use of telemedicine; and (2) to correlate the level of knowledge of medical students to their
attitudes and perceptions on telemedicine. Methods: A 38-item survey questionnaire was distributed online to 1,217 medical students from 1st to 3rd year. A scoring system was
made to categorize the KAP levels of medical students. Results: No significant difference was found in the level of KAP of 1st to 3rd year medical students regarding telemedicine.
Furthermore, level of knowledge and perceptions had no significant association, while year level acted as a weak predictor of knowledge in telemedicine. Attitudes were found to be
significantly associated with level of knowledge, with an increase in the level of acceptance corresponding to an increase in the level of knowledge on telemedicine. Consequently,
the majority of the respondents have a positive attitude towards telemedicine despite having low knowledge regarding the subject. Conclusion: KAP of 1st to 3rd year medical
students regarding telemedicine hardly differed in significance. Although a substantial majority of them had low level of knowledge in telemedicine, an increase in their attitudes can
raise their level of knowledge to moderate or high. Recommendations: Including telemedicine in the curriculum and providing telemedicine workshops, conferences, and training
courses can help address the knowledge gaps. Further studies can also check KAP of medical students who have already used telemedicine or those from other medical schools.

Keywords: telemedicine; medical students; Philippines

INTRODUCTION RESULTS DISCUSSION

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE
An early grasp on the system of the healthcare
community, especially with innovations such as Results in this study showed that first, second, and
telemedicine, could equip medical students with third year medical students had no significant differences
better knowledge in handling future patients and in their level of knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions in
different clinical scenarios. Understanding their
the use of telemedicine, but a significant association
level of knowledge, attitude, and perceptions on 22-24 y/o 28-30 y/o Male 1st year 3rd year
25-27 y/o 30 y/o & above Female 2nd year exist between their level of knowledge and attitudes with
the use of telemedicine may assist in overcoming
the prevailing resistance to technology and be able no significant association between level of knowledge
TECHNICAL INFORMATION
to promote further use of telemedicine in the and perceptions. Year level was able to predict the level
TYPE OF INTERNET CONNECTION GADGET AVAILABLE
future. of knowledge of the respondents, but it was found to be a
50 60

40
weak predictor. A stronger and better predictor was their

OBJECTIVES
40
30

20
attitudes, in which an increase in their level of
20

10
acceptance and personal feelings toward the use of
0
0 Cellular/Mobile Phone Laptop Ipad/Tablet Others
Fiber Cable Wifi Cellular/Mobile Data Others

telemedicine corresponds to an increase in their level of

To compare the knowledge, attitudes, and
PERCEIVED COMPETENCY LEVEL TO HANDLE ELECTRONICS knowledge, particularly from low knowledge to moderate
perceptions of 1st year to 3rd year medical
50

students with the use of telemedicine or high knowledge.

40

30

To correlate the level of knowledge of medical

20

students to their attitudes and perceptions on 10

telemedicine 0

CONCLUSION
Low High

Significant difference between the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of 1st year to 3rd year
medical students with the use of telemedicine using One-Way ANOVA

METHODOLOGY Variables tested

One-Way ANOVA P-value

Cross sectional study

RECOMMENDATION
Cross sectional study

Tested at p= 0.05
>0.05 = no significance

Year level as predictor of Level of Knowledge in telemedicine of Respondents

Simple random sampling on 1st to 3rd year
medical students (n= 293)
Although many medical students from different year
levels had heard of telemedicine before, their knowledge,
Cross sectional study
attitudes, and perceptions toward telemedicine hardly
38-item adapted survey questionnaire scored with a scoring
system differed in significance. It was also found that an increase
in their attitude can elevate their level of knowledge to
Attitudess and Perception as Predictors of level of Knowledge in Telemedicine of moderate or high.
Respondents
Distributed online by Google Forms with access via link or QR
code
It is recommended that medical students should attend
workshops, conferences, and training sessions regarding
Cross sectional study Cross sectional study
Analyzed using One-Way ANOVA and Multinomial Logistic telemedicine, as well as include telemedicine as part of
Regression
the curriculum in medical universities.

Ahmed, T. J., Baig, M., Bashir, M. A., Gazzaz, Z. J., Butt, N. S., & Khan, S. A. (2021). Knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions related to telemedicine among young
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