Survey of digital access among cardiology clinic patients in Queen Elizabeth Hospital II

Introduction : Virtual clinic is where health care professional giving consultations, advice and treatment planning. In the midst of COVID-19 outbreak, this is one potential area should be look into. Our study aim to determine the digital access among cardiology patient in Hospital Queen Elizabeth II. Methodology : This is a cross-sectional study conducted involving outpatients in Cardiology Clinic in Hospital Queen Elizabeth II from 1st to 30th June 2020 retrospectively. Secondary data collected from cardiology clinic were obtained and inclusion criteria included patients 18 years of age and above. Results : Mean age is 54 years old (SD 15.45). Out of 693 respondents, 59.7% (n=414) is male. At least 70% of the respondents went to secondary school. More than half came from west coast of Sabah (67.5%). About 84.4% (n=588) of respondent owns at least a mobile phone. 82% (n=482) of them use it to access the internet. Whatsapp usage by patients and caretaker is at 75% (n=525). Discussion: At least two over third of the respondent have a smartphone with an internet access capability. Whatsapp is most preferred platform among the patients. Thus, from these finding, virtual clinic is feasable to be done in this pandemic era and intergrate it into existing standard of carepath. Conclusion: Pilot virtual clinic need to be demonstrated to improve the healthcare system. More research on telehealth should be done to move forward and bridge the gap between patients and health care personnel. Disclaimer: Abstract text might vary slightly from what is displayed in the e-poster.This poster was submitted to the 14th National Conference for Clinical Research (NCCR) in August 18-20, 2021. https://nccrconference.com.my