Pandemic Telehealth Utilization Among Ambulatory Care Diabetes Patients Managed at an Urban Teaching Hospital in...

Objective: The purpose of this study is to explore the prevalence of and factors associated with telehealth utilization in a medically underserved, ambulatory care diabetes population during COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted using electronic medical records from January 2020 to January 2021 at an ambulatory care diabetes clinic within an urban teaching hospital. Descriptive statistical analysis was conducted for all study variables. Simple and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess predictive factors of telehealth utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. All statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 28 at an alpha level of 0.05. Results: A total of 325 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the study population was 58.2  ±  15.9 years, and the majority was female (67.6%) and Black/African American (92.6%). The average number of medications prescribed was 4.9 ± 2.6 medications, and the average A1C was 8.1% ± 2.4%. A high proportion of patients utilized telehealth (88.3%). Findings from the multivariable analysis showed that females were more likely to use telehealth compared to males, adjusting for other factors (OR_adjusted 2.14 (95% CI: 1.06-4.32). Ward, as a proxy for low income and high medically underserved status, was not a significant predictor of telehealth utilization (p = 0.89). Conclusion: Findings showed that telehealth was widely acceptable at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic even for participants who are low income and have high medically underserved status. Telehealth should continue to be championed as a viable option of care delivery for these vulnerable patients.