Telemedicine and direct to consumer advertising attitudes and the future of telehealth: Women report telemedicine as a comfortable option for accessing birth control

Abstract

Purpose

This paper addresses what variables predict and mediate relationships involving accessing telemedicine in the form of online birth control websites that are often advertised online on social media.

Basic Procedures

This is a survey study of N = 252 under 60 women (M_age = 24.71); multiple linear regression and mediation analyses were done to examine the influence of IBM variables on behavioral intentions.

Main findings

Women who currently use contraceptives report comfort and likelihood to use telemedicine services if they have positive attitudes about telemedicine and DTC advertising. Comfort with using an online contraceptive prescription service mediated the relationship between contraceptive use and likelihood to use telemedical services and between positive telemedicine attitudes and likelihood.

Principal conclusions

Women who are positive about telemedicine and DTC ads are comfortable using these resources, and comfort is a salient mediator. Comfort and its antecedents are important predictors and facilitators of telemedicine intentions and behaviors. Using telemedicine can improve the patient experience by offering alternatives to face-to-face visits (i.e., removing barriers to provider-to-patient communication).

Keywords:

• Birth control
• contraceptives
• telehealth
• telemedicine

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge my former graduate assistant and the ECU School of Communication. I would like to thank Rachel Griffith, my former graduate assistant, for her help with initial tasks. I also would like to thank the School of Communication for generously supporting my project with money for the participation incentive (i.e., gift card drawing).

Additional information

Funding

Funding for the research participation incentive (i.e., gift cards) was provided by the ECU School of Communication.