Implementation of digital health among medical doctors in private health setting in Douala: case of telemedicine applications Mise en oeuvre de la telemedecine chez les médecins dans le secteur de santé privé à Douala : cas des applications de la télémédecine

Abstract

Introduction: The development of smart phone applications has witnessed a notable surge, including telemedicine applications. The objective of the study was to analyze barriers and factors associated to the implementation of telemedicine among medical doctors in private health settings in Douala in Cameroon.

Materials and Methods: A health care facility based cross sectional study was conducted from February to May 2023 using a questionnaire administered to medical doctors. Bivariate analysis and multivariate logistic regression were used to determine factors influencing the level of use of telemedicine. The statistical significance using was less than 0.05

Results: A total of 203 medical doctors were included with 115(56.7%) of women. Most participants 131(64.5 %) were aged 44 to 53 years. Most of participants 117(57.6%) had never used a telemedicine application. Among them 37(31.6%) found poor understanding of the technology. No obligation to use telemedicine by administration 138(68.0%) was the main barrier to use telemedicine. Thirty- six (36.9%) of participants strongly agreed that using telemedicine keeps you informed on updates about the patients, 50(24.6%) of participants also found that telemedicine was advantages as it increases access to medical care despite remote location. factors associated to the use of telemedicine were age groups 34-43 years (p=0,003), 44-53 years (p=0,005), generalist (p=0,008), specialist (p=0,000) and years of service 1 – 5 years (p=0.000) and >10 years (p=0.000)

Conclusion: Most of medical doctors in private sector used telemedicine. Age, job description, years of services were associated to the use of telemedicine.