Users’ Perspectives of Direct-to-Consumer Telemedicine Services: Survey Study
Notice bibliographique
Résumé
Background: Commercially run direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine services are on the rise in countries such as Australia and the United States. These include DTC services that are web-based, largely asynchronous, and offer targeted treatment pathways for specific health issues (eg, weight loss or sexual function). It has been argued that DTC telemedicine improves access to health care and promotes patient empowerment. Despite research examining quality and safety issues, little is known about users' reasons for accessing DTC telemedicine services or their perceptions of them. Objective: In this study, we aimed to examine the perspectives of Australian users accessing DTC telemedicine services, including the reasons for use, perceived benefits, and concerns, in addition to their usage and interaction with traditional general practice services. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey including questions on demographics, published and validated scales, and author-developed closed- and open-response questions was administered via REDCap in 2023 to Australian adults accessing DTC telemedicine services. Results: Among the 151 respondents, most (136/151, 90.1%) had seen a general practitioner (GP) in the previous 12 months and were somewhat or very satisfied (118/136, 86.8%) with the care, just over half found it easy to get an appointment with their GP (76/151, 50.3%), and a quarter found it difficult (38/151, 25.2%). Among the 136 respondents who had seen a GP, more than half either "never" (55/136, 40.4%) or "rarely" (23/136, 16.9%) discussed the information and treatment received from DTC telemedicine service with their GP. The majority of respondents were using a DTC telemedicine service offering prescription skin care (92/151, 60.9%), had received treatment in the previous 6 months (123/151, 81.5%), and had self-initiated care (128/151, 84.8%). The most frequently cited reasons for using DTC telemedicine were related to convenience (97/121, 80.2%) and flexibility (71/121, 58.7%), while approximately a third of the sample selected that it was difficult to see traditional health care provider in their preferred time frame (44/121, 36.4%) and that the use of DTC telemedicine allowed them to gain access to services otherwise unavailable through traditional health care (39/121, 32.2%). Most participants felt "more in control" (106/128, 82.9%) and "in charge" of their health concern (102/130, 78.5%) when using DTC telemedicine services, in addition to having "more correct knowledge" (92/128, 71.9%) and "feeling better informed as a patient" (94/131, 71.8%). "Costs of services" (40/115, 34.8%) and "privacy" (31/115, 27%) were the most frequently reported concerns with using digital health care technologies such as DTC telemedicine. Conclusions: We report that most users perceive DTC telemedicine services as offering ease of access and convenience, and that their use contributes to a greater sense of empowerment over their health. Concerns were related to data privacy and the costs of utilizing the services. Responses suggest that DTC telemedicine may be tapping into a previously unmet need, rather than complementing traditional health care provided by a GP.
Récupéré en direct depuis OpenAlex et désinversé. Les résumés ne sont pas conservés dans cette base de données : les index inversés représentent 8,6 Go des 9,3 Go de texte de la base, et le serveur dispose de 13 Go libres.
Comment cette classification a été obtenuedéplier
Prédiction machine sur la base complète
Imitation des enseignantsNi prévalence calibrée, ni vérité terrain. Validation humaine à venir. Le volet Gemma est une étiquette directe du modèle pour chaque travail de la base, lue sur la notice réduite au titre. Le volet Codex est un classifieur appris des 10 348 étiquettes directes de Codex et calibré sur les taux pondérés de l'échantillon; les champs sans appui suffisant ne portent aucun appel Codex. Le mode candidate est l'union des deux volets; le consensus est leur intersection. Ces sorties portent le statut machine_predicted_unvalidated et ne sont pas des étiquettes humaines.
Scores du classifieur distillé par catégorie (deux têtes)
| Catégorie | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Métarecherche | 0,003 | 0,009 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens strict) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Méta-épidémiologie (sens large) | 0,000 | 0,000 |
| Bibliométrie | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Études des sciences et des technologies | 0,001 | 0,000 |
| Communication savante | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Science ouverte | 0,000 | 0,001 |
| Intégrité de la recherche | 0,001 | 0,001 |
| Charge utile insuffisante (le modèle a refusé de juger) | 0,002 | 0,000 |
Scores machine (provisoires)
Les deux têtes enseignantes du modèle étudiant, lues sur ce travail. Un score ordonne la base pour la relecture; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie, et le statut de validation accompagne chaque rangée tel quel.
Scores de référence d'un modèle non mature (critères de maturité non atteints, 7 itérations). Un score ordonne; il n'affirme jamais une catégorie.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · tel quel depuis la passe de notation : score_only signifie que le nombre peut ordonner les travaux, et qu'aucune étiquette de catégorie n'en découleClassification
machine, non validéePrédiction automatique; un appel candidat d’une seule source (Gemma direct ou Codex distillé), pas un consensus.
Le détail, modèle par modèle et score par score, se trouve en fin de page sous « Comment cette classification a été obtenue ».