Predictors of a Preference for Telemedicine Virtual Visits in Patients Undergoing Cancer Rehabilitation

The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine the use of virtual visits (telemedicine) at our cancer rehabilitation outpatient clinics from March 2020 to August 2021, when virtual visits became more widely available, and to identify any demographic and clinical variables making patients more likely to favor virtual over in-person visits. There were 3971 outpatient encounters (2020 virtual and 1951 in-person visits from a total of 1638 patients) in our cancer rehabilitation outpatient clinics during this time frame. Significant findings in both the univariate and multivariate analyses were race ( P < 0.001 and P = 0.006, respectively), cancer type ( P < 0.001 for both), and distance to the clinic ( P < 0.001 for both). Our research showed that virtual visits were accepted by patients with cancer, and that younger age (62 compared to 65), non-White race/ethnicity, solid tumor, and shorter distance to the clinic were associated with a preference for virtual over in-person visits.