TY - JOUR
T1 - Disparities in telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - Findings from a nationally representative survey in the United States
AU - Zhang, Donglan
AU - Shi, Lu
AU - Han, Xuesong
AU - Li, Yan
AU - Jalajel, Nahyo A.
AU - Patel, Sejal
AU - Chen, Zhuo
AU - Chen, Liwei
AU - Wen, Ming
AU - Li, Hongmei
AU - Chen, Baojiang
AU - Li, Jian
AU - Su, Dejun
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Telehealth is an important source of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence is scarce regarding disparities in telehealth utilization in the United States. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with telehealth utilization among US adults. Our data came from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study, a nationally representative survey conducted in October 2020, with 2554 adults ≥ 18 and an oversample of racial/ethnic minorities. Telehealth utilization was measured as self-reported teleconsultation with providers via email, text message, phone, video, and remote patient monitoring during the pandemic. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the association between telehealth use and factors at the individual, household, and community levels. Overall, 43% of the sample reported having used telehealth, representing 114.5 million adults in the nation. East and Southeast Asians used telehealth less than non-Hispanic Whites (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8). Being uninsured (compared with private insurance: OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8), and those with limited broadband coverage in the community (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8) were less likely to use telehealth. There is a need to develop and implement more equitable policies and interventions at both the individual and community levels to improve access to telehealth services and reduce related disparities.
AB - Telehealth is an important source of health care during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence is scarce regarding disparities in telehealth utilization in the United States. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and factors associated with telehealth utilization among US adults. Our data came from the Health, Ethnicity, and Pandemic Study, a nationally representative survey conducted in October 2020, with 2554 adults ≥ 18 and an oversample of racial/ethnic minorities. Telehealth utilization was measured as self-reported teleconsultation with providers via email, text message, phone, video, and remote patient monitoring during the pandemic. Logistic regressions were performed to examine the association between telehealth use and factors at the individual, household, and community levels. Overall, 43% of the sample reported having used telehealth, representing 114.5 million adults in the nation. East and Southeast Asians used telehealth less than non-Hispanic Whites (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8). Being uninsured (compared with private insurance: OR = 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2–0.8), and those with limited broadband coverage in the community (OR = 0.5, 95% CI: 0.3–0.8) were less likely to use telehealth. There is a need to develop and implement more equitable policies and interventions at both the individual and community levels to improve access to telehealth services and reduce related disparities.
KW - COVID-19 pandemic
KW - Telehealth
KW - community telehealth infrastructure
KW - racial and ethnic minorities
KW - telehealth disparities
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85117112447&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1357633X211051677
DO - 10.1177/1357633X211051677
M3 - Article
C2 - 34633882
AN - SCOPUS:85117112447
SN - 1357-633X
VL - 30
SP - 90
EP - 97
JO - Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
JF - Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare
IS - 1
ER -