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Knowledge, attitude, and practice of virtual consultation among outpatients at a teaching hospital in Malaysia.
Liew et al., PLoS One 2023
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289176
What’s New: This study assesses the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding virtual consultations (VC) among outpatient clinic users during the COVID-19 pandemic, identifying demographic factors linked to KAP and examining the interrelation among these domains.
Importance: With the rapid shift to virtual healthcare due to COVID-19, understanding patients’ readiness and acceptance is crucial for implementing effective telemedicine services.
Contribution to Literature: The study reveals that while there is a high level of awareness and acceptability of VC among patients, actual use remains low. It also shows that demographic factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, and duration of hospital attendance do not significantly influence KAP towards VC.
Results Summary:
– Participants: 366 outpatient clinic users.
– Good Knowledge: 69.7%.
– Positive Attitude: 80.9%.
– Practice: Only 24.6% had exposure to VC.
– Correlations: Moderate positive correlation between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.48, p<0.001); no significant correlation between knowledge and practice (r = 0.04, p = 0.45), or between attitude and practice (r = 0.01, p = 0.82).
The study suggests that increasing opportunities for VC could enhance practice and utilization, and future interventions should aim to boost the effectiveness of VC use.