Age-based disparities in telehealth use in an urban, underserved population in cancer and pulmonary clinics: A need for policy change.
Mary M Pasquinelli, Darshil Patel, Ryan Nguyen and 11 others
PMID 35353071WHAT IT FOUND
Older adults in cancer and pulmonary clinics had less smartphone and video access and more telehealth trouble.
Phone visits remain an important option. Most patients who tried telehealth felt confident in its quality.
Key findings
01Participants aged 50 years or older had lower smartphone internet access (59% vs. 90%) and lower any digital access (82% vs. 97%) than those under 50 years.
02Participants aged 50 years or older reported more challenges with phone or video visits (50% vs. 29%), while younger participants preferred video visits over phone visits more often than older participants (75% vs. 50%).
03Of 211 patients, 126 (60%) had at least one telehealth encounter before completing the survey, and 118 of those (94%) felt confident in the quality of care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a single-center study with limited measures of social determinants of health. Recruitment by email and text may have selected patients with higher digital literacy. Only 15% of patients sent electronic surveys responded, although in-person surveys had a higher response rate. The survey was created by the researchers and was not validated. The study did not compare telehealth with in-person care for patient outcomes. No race-based differences were found, which the authors suggest may reflect the homogeneity of the population served.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the age disparity as older patients rejecting telehealth. They did not differ from younger patients in preference for in-person versus telehealth visits during the pandemic, but they had less digital access and more trouble with visits.