Older Adults Satisfied with Telehealth During COVID-19 Pandemic

A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (AGS) found that despite a general preference for in-person care among patients over 65, many were satisfied with telehealth throughout the pandemic and want it to remain accessible.

Amid the implementation of restrictions on in-person care during the COVID-19 pandemic, many patients and providers turned to telehealth. Telehealth helped maintain care access during this time, especially for seniors, but researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center wanted to determine patient satisfaction levels among the geriatric population that used virtual care.

For the study, they sent a patient satisfaction questionnaire to 278 patients over 65, 208 of whom completed the survey. The study period ranged from April 2020 to June 2021.

The study population, all of whom had participated in a phone-only or video visit with their primary care physician since March 2020, had a mean age of 74.4 years. About 61.5 percent were female, 91.4 percent were non-Hispanic White, 64.4 percent had one or more comorbidities, and 47.2 percent took part in a phone-only visit.

Researchers found that the median patient satisfaction score was six on a seven-point scale. However, non-White patients reported an average satisfaction score one point lower than non-Hispanic Whites. Also, those with comorbidities reported a score that was an average of 0.5 points lower than patients without comorbidities.

Of the study population, 39.5 percent believed telehealth was worse than in-person care, and 4.9 percent felt that telehealth was better.

Researchers also found that many patients experienced technical difficulties while using telehealth. However, this did not stop patients from seeking continued telehealth availability.

These results led researchers to conclude that though seniors preferred in-person care overall, they found telehealth beneficial and wanted it to remain available.

But, researchers also noted various limitations to the study, including the use of data from only one health system, a lack of diversity in the patient population, and the potential evolution of telehealth perceptions since the survey was conducted.

Previous research has also provided information regarding the relationship between older patients and telehealth.

For example, a study from December 2021 found that Medicare beneficiaries who were older and lived in rural used telehealth less during the pandemic.

Another study from April found that low-income, older, male, and Black cancer patients were less likely to use video-based telehealth than their counterparts.

Also, in October, JAMA Network Open published a study that showed the number of older adults who participated in self-measured blood pressure monitoring did not exceed half. Researchers found that the factors most affecting the rate of self-measured blood pressure monitoring related to self-rated mental health, clinician recommendations, and device ownership.