To evaluate the use of telemedicine during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess factors influencing its use.

Abstract

Technological advances in recent years and the emergence of the SARS-COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to the broader use of telemedicine. Telemedicine is a specialty of telerehabilitation, a novelty during the pandemic. Based on all the existing positive and negative experiences, the method has a place in the domestic healthcare system, but further clinical trials and the development of professional guidelines and protocols are needed for its wider use.

This study aims to assess the uptake of telerehabilitation in our country during and after the pandemic. A sub-objective was to investigate the factors that influenced the use of this method during the study periods.

We conducted our survey using a questionnaire. Three hundred eighty-nine physiotherapists responded to our questionnaire. Our results were analyzed using a logistic regression statistical method.

The data showed a significant difference in the proportion of tele-therapy during and after the pandemic. Colleagues who did not use the method after the pandemic cited a lack of technology and professional guidelines and protocols as reasons for not using the technique.