OBJECTIVES:

To describe type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients’ perceptions about telemedicine (TM), and to identify preferences of use.

METHODS:

An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in Spanish T2DM patients. A questionnaire containing 30 questions (dichotomous, multi-choice and 5-likert scale) was specifically designed.

RESULTS:

From 1,036 respondents (mean age: 60.3 years; 50.5% men), 9.8% had used TM resources. Of them, 70.5% were satisfied with TM.

Patients with experience in TM had better perception than naïve patients about how TM reduces the use of healthcare resources: visits to the physician (61.8% vs. 46.1%; p=0.005), to the nurse (59.8% vs. 42.2%; p=0.003), to the emergency room (59.8% vs. 37.7%; p<0.001), and time required per physician’s visits (63.7% vs. 41.0%; p<0.001).

Similarly, patients with experience in TM perceived greater benefits in the improvement of knowledge about the disease (78.4% vs. 60.9%; p=0.001) and consequences of not adhering to treatment (77.5% vs. 54.7%; p<0.001), adherence to treatment (74.5% vs. 54.6%; p=0.001), observance of dietary recommendations (67.6% vs. 55,.6%; p=0.006) and physical exercise recommendations (76.5% vs. 53.1%; p<0.001), glycemic control (73.5% vs. 58.7%; p<0.001), prevention of hypoglycemic episodes (77.5% vs. 56.9%; p<0.001), HRQoL (78.4% vs. 61.3%; p=0.003) and the reduction of absenteeism (65.7% vs. 33.4%; p<0.001).

Experienced patients preferred the following TM resources: web pages supervised by professionals (70.6%), platforms to communicate with the medical team (70.6%), Apps (70.6%) and SMS/Whatsapp reminders (66.7%).

The participants considered that the most important App contents were: information about medication (54.4%), dose reminders (47.4%), diet plans (41.0%), calorie calculators (35.4%) and physical activity meters (34.8%).

CONCLUSIONS:

TM is well accepted by patients, and it is perceived as a useful tool to improve T2DM management reducing healthcare resources use. TM resources that allow information exchange within the medical team regarding to treatment and lifestyle habits, are the most preferred.