Disparities in telehealth access, not willingness to use services, likely explain rural telehealth disparities.
J Rural Health
; 39(3): 617-624, 2023 06.
Artigo
em Inglês
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2298027
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
Although telehealth access and utilization have increased during the pandemic, rural and low-income disparities persist. We sought to assess whether access or willingness to use telehealth differed between rural and non-rural and low-income and non-low-income adults and measure the prevalence of perceived barriers.METHODS:
We conducted a cross-sectional study using COVID-19's Unequal Racial Burden (CURB) online survey (December 17, 2020-February 17, 2021), which included 2 nationally representative cohorts of rural and low-income Black/African American, Latino, and White adults. Non-rural and non-low-income participants from the main, nationally representative sample were matched for rural versus non-rural and low-income versus non-low-income comparisons. We measured perceived telehealth access, willingness to use telehealth, and perceived telehealth barriers.FINDINGS:
Rural (38.6% vs 44.9%) and low-income adults (42.0% vs 47.4%) were less likely to report telehealth access, compared to non-rural and non-low-income counterparts. After adjustment, rural adults were still less likely to report telehealth access (adjusted prevalence ratio [aPR] = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.79-0.99); no differences were seen between low-income and non-low-income adults (aPR = 1.02, 95% CI = 0.88-1.17). The majority of adults reported willingness to use telehealth (rural = 78.4%; low-income = 79.0%), with no differences between rural and non-rural (aPR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.92-1.08) or low-income versus non-low-income (aPR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.91-1.13). No racial/ethnic differences were observed in willingness to use telehealth. The prevalence of perceived telehealth barriers was low, with the majority reporting no barriers (rural = 57.4%; low-income = 56.9%).CONCLUSIONS:
Lack of access (and awareness of access) is likely a primary driver of disparities in rural telehealth use. Race/ethnicity was not associated with telehealth willingness, suggesting that equal utilization is possible once granted access.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
Disponível
Coleções:
Bases de dados internacionais
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Telemedicina
/
COVID-19
Tipo de estudo:
Estudo de coorte
/
Estudo observacional
/
Estudo prognóstico
/
Ensaios controlados aleatorizados
Limite:
Adulto
/
Humanos
País/Região como assunto:
América do Norte
Idioma:
Inglês
Revista:
J Rural Health
Assunto da revista:
Enfermagem
/
Saúde Pública
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Artigo
País de afiliação:
Jrh.12759
Similares
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS