Acceptance of Telemedicine in Outpatient Clinic Consultations During COVID-19 Pandemic. An International, Cross-sectional Study

Currently, due to the effects of COVID-19 pandemic, there is an imperative need to change the healthcare model. In this regard, telemedicine has proved very useful in health crises, in which there is a possibility of infection between people, offering remote access to medical care. Telemedicine has been used in many chronic diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, and appears to be well accepted by patients. However, few studies have been conducted in surgical services and in other diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess the level of acceptance of the patients, in this pandemic situation, to a telemedicine follow-up in different departments.

This is an observational, cross-sectional, multicenter and international study with prospective and retrospective data collection. To evaluate patients' acceptance, we used the validated questionnaire Telehealth usability questionnaire (TUQ). In addition, all patients will provide an overall satisfaction score for telemedicine on a scale from 1 to 5 (1=lowest; 5=highest satisfaction).