Patient Perceptions and Satisfaction With Virtual Clinics During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 15; no. 7; p. e42450
• Main Authors: AlJaloud, AlHanouf M, Al Suwyed, Abdulaziz, Al Zoman, Khalid H, Tabbaa, Mohammad Y, Alwin Robert, Asirvatham, Al‐Nowaiser, Abeer M, Alotaibi, Faisal, Alfaifi, Mohammed A, Almubarak, Sultan A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto Cureus Inc 25.07.2023; Cureus
• Subjects: Age groups; COVID-19; Cross-sectional studies; Data collection; Diabetes; Disease transmission; Health care delivery; Health facilities; Hospitals; Outpatient care facilities; Pandemics; Patient satisfaction; Public Health; Questionnaires; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Social networks; Telemedicine; Saudi Arabia; United States > US; Riyadh Saudi Arabia
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.42450

BackgroundVirtual clinics played an important role for many patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted this cross-sectional study to evaluate patient perceptions and their satisfaction with virtual clinics during and after COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.MethodsAn online questionnaire-based survey with questions in both Arabic and English was conducted among patients who attended outpatient clinics at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from May 2021 to September 2021. Demographic variables, the clinic type, and the level of satisfaction with the remote appointments were recorded. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data. ResultsA total of 1274 participants filled out the survey. Of them, 831 (65.23%) were females, and 749 (58.79%) were aged 18 to 30 years old. Of the sample studied, 411 (32.26%) had appointments with their healthcare provider remotely since the beginning of the pandemic; 311 (75.67%) were satisfied or highly satisfied with the remote appointments; and 198 (48.18%) participants desired to continue using virtual services post-COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression analysis showed that females were more satisfied with virtual clinics than males (OR= 1.18, 95% CI (1.01, 1.40), p=0.04). The age group of 18 to 30 was more satisfied than other age groups (OR= 53.23, 95% CI (2.01, 1347.18), p=0.02).ConclusionThe majority of the participants who used virtual clinics were satisfied with the service. Nearly half of the participants wanted to continue using virtual services even after the COVID-19 pandemic was over. More effort should be made to increase patient awareness and knowledge about virtual clinics.