Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Telemedicine Among Physicians in the United Arab Emirates: A...

Background Telemedicine has emerged as a pivotal tool to address growing healthcare demands and improve access to care, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic. While the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has made substantial investments in digital health infrastructure, variations in physicians' readiness and acceptance remain. This study aimed to assess physicians' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) regarding telemedicine and to identify demographic and professional factors associated with these domains. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among practicing physicians in public and private healthcare facilities across the UAE between March and September 2023. A nonprobability convenience sampling method, supplemented by snowball sampling, was used to recruit participants through a structured, self-administered bilingual questionnaire developed for this study, which assessed demographics and KAP toward telemedicine. This approach was adopted due to challenges in accessing physicians across diverse clinical settings and to ensure an adequate sample size. A total of 309 complete responses were analyzed. KAP scores were categorized into low, moderate, and high levels. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and multivariable ordinal logistic regression were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0 (released 2013; IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA), with significance set at p < 0.05. Results Among participants, 51.4% demonstrated high knowledge, 59.2% had positive attitudes, and 63.2% reported good telemedicine practices. Knowledge was significantly associated with years of experience, emirate of practice, and healthcare sector. Physicians in private facilities had higher odds of good knowledge (adjusted OR (AOR) = 2.31, p < 0.001), while those in obstetrics and gynecology had lower odds compared with surgeons (AOR = 0.28, p = 0.016). Positive attitudes were more likely among physicians in medicine and obstetrics/gynecology and among those practicing in Dubai. Good practice was significantly associated with family medicine specialty and geographic location, with regional variation across emirates. Discussion Overall, UAE physicians exhibited favorable engagement with telemedicine; however, knowledge and adoption levels were lower than those reported in many Western countries and varied across specialties and regions. Disparities between the public and private sectors and among emirates suggest unequal access to training and infrastructure. These findings align with regional literature indicating moderate but growing acceptance, underscoring the need for targeted educational and institutional support. Conclusions Telemedicine is widely accepted among physicians in the UAE, with generally high levels of knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practice. Nonetheless, specialty-specific gaps, public-sector limitations, and geographic disparities persist. These findings highlight the need for targeted, specialty-specific training programs and capacity-building workshops, particularly within public healthcare settings, to address identified gaps. Additionally, standardized national guidelines and enhanced system-level support are essential to optimize telemedicine integration and ensure equitable, high-quality digital healthcare delivery nationwide.