Even the most tech-savvy generation is divided on the effectiveness of virtual visits, according to an Aug. 19 study published in Telemedicine and e-Health.
Researchers conducted an open-ended survey with five questions between October 2019 and October 2020, according to a Sept. 17 news release from Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan. More than 1,000 participants ages 14–24, participated, all of whom were enrolled in MyVoice, a longitudinal national text message survey.
Three study insights:
- Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they prefer virtual visits and 23 percent said they prefer a telephone-only visit. The two most common reasons for preferring a telephone visit were feeling self-conscious or convenience.
- In October 2020, 49 percent of respondents said they didn't feel virtual visits were as effective as visits conducted in-person, 20 percent of respondents said they were equally as effective and 16 percent of respondents said it depended on the situation. Survey respondents said the inability to take vital signs, conduct physical examinations or look at physical cues were reasons telehealth can be less effective.
- In 2019 and 2020, survey respondents said the health issues best suited for telehealth were minor health problems; mental health issues; and cold, flu or earache.