ArticleJournal of medical Internet research2021
Public Awareness and Utilization of 937-Telephone Health Services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Longitudinal Study.
Article in Journal of medical Internet research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Awareness and attitudes of elderly Southeast Asian adults towards telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative study.Singapore medical journal · 2025Article
- Digital Health Technologies in Pediatric Infectious Disease and the Perspective of Patients and Healthcare Professionals: A Review.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Understanding Telemedicine: Measuring Beneficiaries' Satisfaction and Key Call Metrics in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Journal of patient experience · 2025Article
- A Comparison of the Convenience, Quality of Interaction, and Satisfaction of Virtual and In-Person Healthcare Consultations: A Nationwide Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Factors influencing telehealth awareness, utilization, and satisfaction in KSA: A national population-based study.Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences · 2024Article
- Healthcare Providers' Experience with Saudi Arabia's 937 Virtual Medical Call Centers and Telehealth.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2024Article
- The Perception of Health Care Practitioners Regarding Telemedicine During COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia: Mixed Methods Study.JMIR formative research · 2023Article
- Article
- Awareness and acceptance of teleclinic services during COVID-19 in the general population in Riyadh: Cross-sectional study.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Article
- Public awareness and use of 997 emergency medical service phone number during the COVID-19 pandemic.Frontiers in public health · 2022Observational
- COVID-19 and Saudi Arabia: Awareness, Attitude, and Practice.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundTelehealth plays a key role in supporting health care systems and influencing methods of health care delivery. Government laws and medical operating protocols have been largely modified to provide remote care to reduce social contact and ensure a safer patient environment. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), the Ministry of Health (MOH) introduced several forms of telemedicine as alternatives to face-to-face consultations in clinical settings.
objectiveThis study aimed to assess the awareness and utilization of telehealth services before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in the KSA.
methodsIn this longitudinal study, we compared the awareness and utilization of 937-telephone health services (ie, a toll-free telephone service to provide medical and administrative health care services at any time for the population) before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in the KSA. Using a convenience sampling technique, a validated web-based questionnaire was distributed on social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp) at 2 timepoints: before (February 2019) and during (May 2020) the COVID-19 pandemic.
resultsThe study sample comprised a total of 1961 participants who completed the questionnaire before (n=1303, 66%) and during (n=658, 33%) the COVID-19 pandemic. Both awareness (before=46% vs during=78%) and utilization (before=42% vs during=48%) of the 937-telephone health services increased significantly during the pandemic (P<.001). No significant association of the awareness or utilization of 937-telephone health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic was found with respect to the participants' age, education level, having children, or having any chronic disease.
conclusionsOur findings indicate significant increases in the awareness and utilization of 937-telephone health services during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting an increase in public acceptance of the service and providing evidence of an equitable telemedicine service for the population. Further studies are needed to provide a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators to the use of 937-telephone health services for different groups of the population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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 OpenQuestion graph.