Perception and Knowledge of Telemedicine Technology in Hispanic Practicing Physicians: Instrument Validation

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple countries has taken measures, such as isolation and quarantine to prevent person-to-person spread of disease. This forced many physicians to adopt new techniques to continue patient care, such as telemedicine, that has proven to be useful in continued care of non-COVID 19 pathologies. Different factors influence the perception of telemedicine in medical practitioners such as security, confidentiality, cost-effectiveness issues, comfort, and the risk of malpractice. Methods: The original questionnaire included 6 domains with 40 questions, each question was measured with a five-point likert-scale ranging from very high [5] to very low [1]. Consequently, the survey was translated to spanish using machine translation (MT). The translation was reviewed independently and then a consensus was made regarding minor changes in the syntax of the survey to facilitate understanding. After the expert feedback and questionnaire indicators, the research team members proposed to reduce the instrument to 13-items in 4 domains, due similarity of questions. The sample was divided into 2 groups, randomly selected. Results: The 382 surveys were collected and separated in two random samples, S1 and S2, (198 and 184 respectively). In exploratory factor analysis (EFA) the 13-items are grouped into the four theoretical domains, item 7 presented cross loading between factors and was removed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed to assess scale reliability and inter scale associations; three models were tested. Conclusions: The translated instrument was clear, with adequate internal consistency, readability, and appropriate to be applied in the physician setting. This validated questionnaire made it possible to evaluate the real knowledge of telemedicine in order to increase its use, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic.