TY - JOUR
T1 - Patient Satisfaction With Traditional Chinese Medicine Telemedicine Service During the COVID-19 Pandemic
T2 - A Cross-Sectional Study
AU - Xu, Shanshan
AU - Ho, Fai Fai
AU - Kwong, Talos Ming Hong
AU - Li, Angus Siu cheong
AU - Ha, Eun Hae
AU - Hua, Heyu
AU - Liong, Ching
AU - Leung, Kwan Chi
AU - Wang, Betty Huan
AU - Leung, Ting Hung
AU - Lin, Zhixiu
AU - Wong, Samuel Yeung Shan
AU - Pan, Faming
AU - Chung, Vincent Chi Ho
N1 - Funding information:
This work was supported by the United College Student Campus Training and Service Award Scheme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The funder had no involvement in study design, data collection and analysis, manuscript preparation or decision to submit this article for publication. The authors declare no competing interests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 by National University of Health Sciences.
PY - 2025/7/1
Y1 - 2025/7/1
N2 - Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the satisfaction of patients with and without COVID-19 when using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) telemedicine during the pandemic in Hong Kong.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 122 COVID-19 patients and 90 non-COVID-19 patients who utilized a TCM telemedicine service provided by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Specialty Clinic cum Clinical Teaching and Research Centre during March to April 2022. A Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire, consisting of factors of Information Exchange and Patient Comfort, was administered via an online survey after video consultations. Patients’ satisfaction on these aspects of satisfaction was assessed. Subgroup and linear regression analyses were conducted to explore patient characteristics associated with satisfaction with telemedicine.Results: Overall patient satisfaction with Information Exchange was good (28.00 [4.00] out of 35), but rating on Patient Comfort was mediocre (21.00 [5.00] out of 35), with a clear preference for face-to-face consultation. Compared to non-COVID-19 patients, the total score for Information Exchange was slightly lower amongst those consulted for COVID-19, as a majority of them are new patients without a per-existing relationship with the clinician. Satisfaction tended to be higher among patients who were younger, female, better-educated, employed, and had complete COVID-19 vaccinations.Conclusions: Despite being fairly satisfied with the TCM telemedicine service, both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients expressed a preference for face-to-face consultation. While improving clinician-patient interaction during video consultation is expected to improve communication quality, it is expected that demand for face-to-face TCM services will rebound in the post-COVID era.
AB - Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the satisfaction of patients with and without COVID-19 when using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) telemedicine during the pandemic in Hong Kong.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 122 COVID-19 patients and 90 non-COVID-19 patients who utilized a TCM telemedicine service provided by The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Specialty Clinic cum Clinical Teaching and Research Centre during March to April 2022. A Telemedicine Satisfaction Questionnaire, consisting of factors of Information Exchange and Patient Comfort, was administered via an online survey after video consultations. Patients’ satisfaction on these aspects of satisfaction was assessed. Subgroup and linear regression analyses were conducted to explore patient characteristics associated with satisfaction with telemedicine.Results: Overall patient satisfaction with Information Exchange was good (28.00 [4.00] out of 35), but rating on Patient Comfort was mediocre (21.00 [5.00] out of 35), with a clear preference for face-to-face consultation. Compared to non-COVID-19 patients, the total score for Information Exchange was slightly lower amongst those consulted for COVID-19, as a majority of them are new patients without a per-existing relationship with the clinician. Satisfaction tended to be higher among patients who were younger, female, better-educated, employed, and had complete COVID-19 vaccinations.Conclusions: Despite being fairly satisfied with the TCM telemedicine service, both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients expressed a preference for face-to-face consultation. While improving clinician-patient interaction during video consultation is expected to improve communication quality, it is expected that demand for face-to-face TCM services will rebound in the post-COVID era.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Medicine, Chinese Traditional
KW - Patient Satisfaction
KW - SARS-CoV-2
KW - Telemedicine
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105021386499
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0161475425000764?via%3Dihub
U2 - 10.1016/j.jmpt.2025.10.047
DO - 10.1016/j.jmpt.2025.10.047
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 41212126
AN - SCOPUS:105021386499
SN - 0161-4754
VL - 48
SP - 671
EP - 682
JO - Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
JF - Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics
IS - 6-9
ER -
