ArticleDigital health
The lack of digital equipment as the primary barrier to teleconsultation in a socially deprived French department during the COVID-19 epidemic period.
Article in Digital health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of telerehabilitation in upper limb musculoskeletal disorders: a systematic review.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Pooled it
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Introduction: The digital transition is spreading throughout the healthcare field but is also subject to a digital divide. This study aimed to determine the factors associated with patients' inability to carry out teleconsultations during the COVID-19 epidemic in a French hospital located in a disadvantaged area close to Paris. Methodology: This study is a secondary analysis of the SocialCov study, a published monocentric case-control study conducted on patients hospitalized for COVID-19 and control patients hospitalized for another reason. Data regarding teleconsultation, socio-demographic characteristics, and health literacy level were collected using a hetero-administered questionnaire. Factors associated with the inability to conduct a teleconsultation were identified using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 240 patients,142 (59%) were male, and 105 (44%) were aged >65 years. Overall, 163 (68%) reported their inability to carry out a teleconsultation including 125 (52%) due to the absence of suitable digital equipment. In multivariate analysis, lack of adequate digital equipment was associated with the inability to carry out a teleconsultation (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 15.5; 95% CI [6.3, 38.3]). A trend was also observed with age >65 years (aOR = 2.1; 95% CI [0.9, 5.0], Conclusion: In a French socially deprived area, access to technological devices is the primary barrier to conducting teleconsultations during the COVID-19 epidemic. To avoid exacerbating the digital divide, specific solutions must be proposed to reach digitally distant populations, addressing both material and digital literacy aspects.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.