KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF TELEMEDICINE AMONG CAREGIVERS OF PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY PATIENTS -A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Main Article Content
Keywords
Telemedicine, Pediatric Epilepsy, Knowledge, Attitude
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Telemedicine combines advanced telecommunications and electronic information technologies to provide healthcare services even at remote areas. It is an essential and beneficial technology that can ease preventive treatment and improve long-term health. In addition, it can make healthcare more efficient, organized, and available. We sought to understand the knowledge and attitude of telemedicine among the parent/ guardian of epilepsy patients.
OBJECTIVE”: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding telemedicine among pediatric caregivers of epilepsy patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, Adichunchanagiri Hospital and Research centre between October 2024 and December 2024, utilizing self-administered questionnaires for data collection. In this study, the non-probability purposive sampling method was adopted. All caregivers (aged 18 years or older) of paediatric epilepsy patients visiting OPD or admitted patients who have been involved in the patient’s care for at least 6 months were included in the study and were provided with a questionnaire which comprised three main sections: demographics, knowledge and attitude Regarding caregivers’ knowledge. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used for data analysis.
RESULTS: Among the 88 participants in the study, the majority (42%) were aged between 26 and 30 years, and 73.9% were female. In the study the level of awareness about telemedicine was low as only 28.4% had heard of telemedicine. Most participants were able to correctly identify its purposes and benefits. All aspects of the caregivers’ attitudes demonstrated posi¬tive agreement with the Likert scale of attitudes.
CONCLUSION: Our research uncovered a significant knowledge gap regarding telemedicine services, including their availability, purposes, and benefits. However, caregivers demonstrated positive attitudes toward telemedicine, with social media emerging as the most effective platform for awareness and education.
OBJECTIVE”: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding telemedicine among pediatric caregivers of epilepsy patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics, Adichunchanagiri Hospital and Research centre between October 2024 and December 2024, utilizing self-administered questionnaires for data collection. In this study, the non-probability purposive sampling method was adopted. All caregivers (aged 18 years or older) of paediatric epilepsy patients visiting OPD or admitted patients who have been involved in the patient’s care for at least 6 months were included in the study and were provided with a questionnaire which comprised three main sections: demographics, knowledge and attitude Regarding caregivers’ knowledge. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 was used for data analysis.
RESULTS: Among the 88 participants in the study, the majority (42%) were aged between 26 and 30 years, and 73.9% were female. In the study the level of awareness about telemedicine was low as only 28.4% had heard of telemedicine. Most participants were able to correctly identify its purposes and benefits. All aspects of the caregivers’ attitudes demonstrated posi¬tive agreement with the Likert scale of attitudes.
CONCLUSION: Our research uncovered a significant knowledge gap regarding telemedicine services, including their availability, purposes, and benefits. However, caregivers demonstrated positive attitudes toward telemedicine, with social media emerging as the most effective platform for awareness and education.
References
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[11] Alajwari HA, Alfayez A, Alsalman D, Alanezi F, Alhodaib H, Al-Rayes S, et al. Knowledge and attitude of Saudi Arabian citizens towards telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Health 2022;14(6):604-9.
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[14] Dumallay GM, Banta-Banzali LKF. Telemedicine in developing countries: knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers of children with epilepsy regarding telemedicine at the philippine children’s medical center. Annals of Child Neurology 2023;31(4):229-39.
[15] Peprah P, Abalo EM, Agyemang-Duah W, Gyasi RM, Reforce O, Nyonyo J, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and use of mHealth technology among students in Ghana: a university-based survey. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2019;19:1-1.
[16] Brigo F, Bonavita S, Leocani L, Tedeschi G, Lavorgna L. Telemedicine and the challenge of epilepsy management at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Epilepsy Behav 2020;110:107164.
[17] Wirrell EC, Grinspan ZM, Knupp KG, Jiang Y, Hammeed B, Mytinger JR, et al. Care delivery for children with epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international survey of clinicians. Journal of Child Neurology 2020;35(13):924-33.
[18] Atmojo JT, Sudaryanto WT, Widiyanto A, Ernawati, Arradini D. Telemedicine, cost effectiveness, and patients satisfaction: a systematic review. Journal of Health Policy and Management 2020;5(2):103-7.
[19] Kissani N, Lengané YT, Patterson V, Mesraoua B, Dawn E, Ozkara C, et al. Telemedicine in epilepsy: how can we improve care, teaching, and awareness? Epilepsy & Behavior 2020;103:106854.
[20] Singh A, Sahoo AK, Dhaneria S, Gupta D. The outlook of doc¬tors toward telemedicine: a cross-sectional study of knowledge, awareness, and attitude in central India. J Family Med Prim Care 2021;10:3617-24.
[21] Datta R, Singh A, Mishra P. A survey of awareness, knowledge, attitude, and skills of telemedicine among healthcare professionals in India. Med J Armed Forces India 2021;79(6):702-9.
[2] Haleem A, Javaid M, Singh RP, Suman R. Telemedicine for healthcare: capabilities, features, barriers, and applications. Sensors International 2021;2:100117.
[3] Singhi P, Gupta, A. Epilepsy in children-important facets. Indian Journal of Pediatrics 2021;88(10):991-2.
[4] WHO factsheet 20 June 2019. Available at: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/epilepsy.
[5] Srivastava K, Agarwal E, Rajadhyaksha S, Deshmukh R, Kulkarni V, Doke P, et al. Significant treatment gap and co-morbidities identified in an epidemiological survey of pediatric epilepsy in rural suburbs of India. Seizure: The Journal of the British Epilepsy Association 2021;91:417-24.
[6] Rani A, Thomas PT. Parental knoweldge, attitude, and perception about epilepsy and sociocultural barriers to treatment. Journal of Epilepsy Research 2019;9(1):65-75.
[7] Chunara R, Zhao Y, Chen J, Lawrence K, Testa PA, Nov O, et al. Telemedicine and healthcare disparities: a cohort study in a large healthcare system in New York City during COVID-19. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association 2021;28(1):33-41.
[8] Ray KN, Ashcraft LE, Mehrotra A, Miller E, Kahn JM. Family perspectives on telemedicine for pediatric subspecialty care. Telemedicine and e-Health 2017;23(10):852-62.
[9] Domingues RB, Mantese CE, Aquino ED, Fantini FG, Prado GF, Nitrini R. Telemedicine in neurology: current evidence. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2020;78:818-26.
[10] Seivert S, Badowski ME. The rise of telemedicine: lessons from a global pandemic. EMJ Innov 2020;5(1):64-69.
[11] Alajwari HA, Alfayez A, Alsalman D, Alanezi F, Alhodaib H, Al-Rayes S, et al. Knowledge and attitude of Saudi Arabian citizens towards telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. International Health 2022;14(6):604-9.
[12] Singh A, Sahoo AK, Dhaneria S, Gupta D. The outlook of doctors toward telemedicine: a cross-sectional study of knowledge, awareness, and attitude in central India. J Family Med Prim Care 2021;10:3617-24.
[13] Ashfaq A, Memon SF, Zehra A, Barry S, Jawed H, Akhtar M, et al. Knowledge and attitude regarding telemedicine among doc¬tors in Karachi. Cureus 2020;12:e6927.
[14] Dumallay GM, Banta-Banzali LKF. Telemedicine in developing countries: knowledge, attitudes, and practices of caregivers of children with epilepsy regarding telemedicine at the philippine children’s medical center. Annals of Child Neurology 2023;31(4):229-39.
[15] Peprah P, Abalo EM, Agyemang-Duah W, Gyasi RM, Reforce O, Nyonyo J, et al. Knowledge, attitude, and use of mHealth technology among students in Ghana: a university-based survey. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 2019;19:1-1.
[16] Brigo F, Bonavita S, Leocani L, Tedeschi G, Lavorgna L. Telemedicine and the challenge of epilepsy management at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Epilepsy Behav 2020;110:107164.
[17] Wirrell EC, Grinspan ZM, Knupp KG, Jiang Y, Hammeed B, Mytinger JR, et al. Care delivery for children with epilepsy during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international survey of clinicians. Journal of Child Neurology 2020;35(13):924-33.
[18] Atmojo JT, Sudaryanto WT, Widiyanto A, Ernawati, Arradini D. Telemedicine, cost effectiveness, and patients satisfaction: a systematic review. Journal of Health Policy and Management 2020;5(2):103-7.
[19] Kissani N, Lengané YT, Patterson V, Mesraoua B, Dawn E, Ozkara C, et al. Telemedicine in epilepsy: how can we improve care, teaching, and awareness? Epilepsy & Behavior 2020;103:106854.
[20] Singh A, Sahoo AK, Dhaneria S, Gupta D. The outlook of doc¬tors toward telemedicine: a cross-sectional study of knowledge, awareness, and attitude in central India. J Family Med Prim Care 2021;10:3617-24.
[21] Datta R, Singh A, Mishra P. A survey of awareness, knowledge, attitude, and skills of telemedicine among healthcare professionals in India. Med J Armed Forces India 2021;79(6):702-9.
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Published
Mar 03, 2025
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Dr. Prajna Bhushan, & Dr. K.B. Mahendrappa. (2025). KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF TELEMEDICINE AMONG CAREGIVERS OF PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY PATIENTS -A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 32(2), 42-49. https://doi.org/10.53555/md9e1822
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Author Biographies
Dr. Prajna Bhushan
Department of Paediatrics, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Adichunchanagiri University, B G Nagara, Karnataka, India.
Dr. K.B. Mahendrappa
Department of Paediatrics, Adichunchanagiri Institute of Medical Sciences, Adichunchanagiri University, B G Nagara, Karnataka, India.
How to Cite
Dr. Prajna Bhushan, & Dr. K.B. Mahendrappa. (2025). KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDE OF TELEMEDICINE AMONG CAREGIVERS OF PEDIATRIC EPILEPSY PATIENTS -A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 32(2), 42-49. https://doi.org/10.53555/md9e1822