Table 3.
Participants’ perceptions about the feasibility and limitations of telehealth clinicsa.
| Questions | Overall (N=664), n (%) | Prenatal <18 weeks (n=269), n (%) | Prenatal between 24 and 31 weeks (n=198), n (%) | Postpartum (n=197), n (%) | Prenatal combined vs postpartum (P value) | ||
| To what extent do you score your confidence in performing the following procedures via telehealth clinic? | |||||||
| Collecting patients’ personal information and verifying identity | .03 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 273 (41.2) | 118 (43.9) | 85 (42.9) | 70 (35.9) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 145 (21.9) | 61 (22.7) | 29 (14.6) | 55 (28.2) | |||
| Medical history-taking | .003 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 341 (51.5) | 143 (53.2) | 117 (59.1) | 81 (41.5) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 104 (15.7) | 44 (16.4) | 20 (10.1) | 40 (20.5) | |||
| Conducting physical examinations | .77 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 60 (9.1) | 22 (8.2) | 18 (9.1) | 20 (10.3) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 431 (65.2) | 178 (66.2) | 129 (65.2) | 124 (63.9) | |||
| Arranging further investigations (eg, X-ray, microbial tests, blood tests) | .24 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 131 (19.8) | 48 (17.9) | 40 (20.3) | 43 (22.1) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 365 (55.3) | 157 (58.6) | 110 (55.8) | 98 (50.3) | |||
| Making and confirming diagnoses with the doctor | .06 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 124 (18.8) | 50 (18.7) | 28 (14.1) | 46 (23.6) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 272 (41.2) | 128 (47.9) | 75 (37.9) | 69 (35.4) | |||
| Measuring blood pressure with an electronic device at home (results will be interpreted by the doctor) | .55 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 282 (42.8) | 116 (43.4) | 86 (43.4) | 80 (41.2) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 156 (23.7) | 70 (26.2) | 43 (21.7) | 43 (22.2) | |||
| Performing urinary dipstick tests (results will be interpreted by the doctor) | .24 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 373 (56.4) | 153 (57.1) | 118 (59.6) | 102 (52.3) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 104 (15.7) | 44 (16.4) | 30 (15.2) | 30 (15.4) | |||
| Measuring the size of the uterus using a measuring tape at home (supervised by the doctor during telehealth clinic consultation) | .06 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 123 (18.6) | 43 (16) | 35 (17.7) | 45 (23.1) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 390 (58.9) | 176 (65.4) | 112 (56.6) | 102 (52.3) | |||
| Listening to the fetal heartbeat using a hand-held Doppler machine at home (supervised by the doctor during telehealth clinic consultation) | .30 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 180 (27.2) | 65 (24.2) | 54 (27.3) | 61 (31.3) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 293 (44.3) | 134 (49.8) | 79 (39.9) | 80 (41) | |||
| Self-administering swabs in the rectum and lower vagina at home (supervised by the doctor during telehealth clinic consultation) | .12 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 82 (12.4) | 29 (10.8) | 21 (10.6) | 32 (16.4) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 461 (69.6) | 198 (73.6) | 132 (66.7) | 131 (7.2) | |||
| Discussing investigation results (eg, Down syndrome screening, oral glucose tolerance test) | .41 | ||||||
| Very confident/confident | 418 (63.1) | 176 (65.4) | 126 (63.6) | 116 (59.5) | |||
| Totally unconfident/unconfident | 107 (16.2) | 46 (17.1) | 28 (14.1) | 33 (16.9) | |||
aChi-square test was performed after removing missing data for each factor.