Ongoing Research Projects

Faith Ogini, Mary K Awuonda, Rakchhya Uprety, Rashidat Elesho, Carrie Crowther-Brown,  Howard University College of Pharmacy. 

Objective: This study aims to assess telehealth utilization trends among females in the United States.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of female patients in the United States (US) was conducted using the National Interview Health Survey (NHIS) merged data from 2020 to 2023. Overall descriptive statistics of study variables were estimated. The primary outcome variable was the number of virtual medical appointments within the past 12 months.  Unweighted multiple logistic regression was used to assess the overall impact of study variables on telehealth use, adjusting for sociodemographic and health-related variables. All analyses were conducted using SPSS 30.0.0.0 at an alpha value of 0.05.

Results: A total of 64,256 female participants were included in this study. Among participants, 33.6% were above 65 years, 12.7% were Black, and 86.2% were Hispanics. Telehealth use was highest in 2021(43.4%), and overall use was 36.9%. The adjusted regression analysis showed that females above 65 years, those from the Black race, and those with communication difficulty had significantly lower odds of utilizing telehealth. In contrast, females who had above grade 11 education, those with insurance, family poverty ratio above 1, and those with medical and home health visits in the past year had significantly greater odds of telehealth use. Obese females had greater odds compared to underweight females and those with less than excellent health status had greater odds of telehealth use than females with excellent health (p<0.05). Marital status and ethnicity did not predict telehealth use.

Conclusion: Sociodemographic and health-related factors significantly predicted telehealth use among US females. These factors are essential in developing interventions and policies that promote telehealth utilization to ensure that all patients harness the benefits of telehealth. 

Rakchhya Uprety, Mary K Awuonda, Faith Ogini, Rashidat Elesho, Carrie Crowther-Brown, Howard University College of Pharmacy. 

Objective: The study aims to assess the trends of telehealth utilization among individuals with at least one prescription from 2020 to 2023.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using merged data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2020 to 2023. This sub analysis included individuals with at least one prescription (N=83,721) in the past year. The primary outcome was telehealth utilization determined by whether a participant had a virtual medical appointment in the past 12 months. Descriptive analysis was conducted and stratified by year. Unweighted multiple logistic regression was used to predict the study outcome adjusting for sociodemographic factors, health status and health access-related variables. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 30 at an alpha of 0.05.

Results: A total of 83,721 individuals with at least one prescription were included in the study. Overall, telehealth utilization was estimated at 41.3% with the highest use observed in 2021 (49.1%). Logistic regression showed that females, those with at least a 12th-grade education, individuals of other races, and Hispanic ethnicity had higher odds of using telehealth at a significance level of p<.05 adjusting for other factors. Having health insurance, income above the poverty level, a recent doctor visit, and receiving home healthcare were also significantly associated with increased telehealth use at a significance level of p<.05 adjusting for other factors.

Conclusion: Telehealth utilization was high with highest levels observed in 2021 likely due to COVID-19. Education, insurance, income, recent healthcare visits, and home care were key predictors of telehealth. These important factors can help inform policy decisions on telehealth extensions in the future. 

Rashidat Elesho, Mary K Awuonda Faith Ogini, Rakchhya Uprety, Carrie Crowther-Brown, Howard University College of Pharmacy.  

Objective: The study aims to assess the national trends of telehealth utilization among men in the United States from 2020 to 2023  

Methods: A cross-sectional study of male participants in the United States was conducted using merged data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) from 2020 to 2023. The primary outcome was telehealth utilization, defined as having a virtual medical appointment in the past 12 months. Descriptive analysis, stratified by year was conducted. Unweighted multiple logistic regression was used to predict the study outcome adjusting for sociodemographic factors, and health access-related variables. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 30 at an alpha of 0.05.  

Results: A total of 53,954 men were included in the study. Overall, telehealth utilization was estimated at 29.3% with the highest usage observed in 2021 (33.6%). Logistic regression indicated that men with at least a 12th-grade education, those identifying as other races, and Hispanic ethnicity had significantly higher odds of using telehealth at (p<.05) adjusting for other factors. Additionally, having health insurance, an income above the poverty level, a recent doctor visit, and receiving home healthcare were significantly associated with increased telehealth use a (p<.05) adjusting for other factors. Conversely, Age and BMI were not significant predictors.  

Conclusion: Telehealth utilization among men was high, peaking in 2021, likely due to COVID-19 pandemic. Education, insurance, income, recent healthcare visits, and home care were key predictors of telehealth use. These findings highlight the role socioeconomic and healthcare access-related factors in shaping telehealth adoption. Future efforts should focus on addressing barriers to telehealth and promoting equitable access to virtual care services. 

Keywords: Telehealth utilization, Men’s Health, Health disparity, Socio-economic factors 

Background: Telehealth utilization was on the rise during the pandemic. Surprisingly, there is limited literature on telehealth among the elderly. This study sought to assess factors that significantly affected telehealth utilization and to evaluate the feasibility and acceptance of a Medication Therapy Management (MTM) Telepharmacy service among Seniors in DC.

Methods: This study was divided into two sub-studies, namely the Telehealth Utilization (TU), and the Telehealth Acceptance (TA). The TU study’s aims were 1) To examine the prevalence and predictive factors of TU among seniors from wellness centers in Washington DC during the pandemic. 2) To explore barriers associated with TU during the pandemic among seniors from wellness centers in Washington DC.  3) To pilot test the feasibility of an innovative senior center-anchored medication therapy management (MTM) telepharmacy service among seniors. 4) To examine the predictive effect of sociodemographic factors, antecedent factors on perceived ease of use of an innovative senior center- anchored medication therapy management (MTM) telepharmacy service among seniors from wellness centers. An electronic and validated questionnaire was disseminated among these participants.

Results: Of the 105 respondents, 72.4% were female, 63.5% was 70 years or more, the mean age was 72.6 +/- 7.5. Additionally, 52.4% reported having completed more than GED/High school,  88.6% reported unemployed, 57.7%  noted having public health insurance, 88.6% of respondents were African American, 71.4% of respondents reported that they use Medicare part D and part C for their drugs purchases, 54.3% of participants reported they have an annual income of less than $ 34,999, 51.9% reported that they cannot access computers easily without any help, and 48.6% reported had have remote visits using any type of device during the pandemic. The TU study indicated gender (OR: 5.197; 95% CI: (1.493-18.086), p= 0.010), computer access (OR: 11.575; 95% CI: (3.988-33.588), P< 0.001), communal housing (OR: 0.255; 95% CI: (0.070-0.933), P=0.039), and computer self-efficacy score (OR: 1.211; 95% CI: (1.002-1.463), p=0.047) were significant predictors of TU. The TA study revealed that age of a senior (B= -1.233, t= -2.108, P =0.038), system anxiety (B= -1.213, t=-6.334 p<0.001), senior system self-efficacy (B= 2.669, t=18.321 p<0.001), and perception of external control (B= 1.086, t=8.853; p<0.001) had  significant impact on perceived ease of use of the telepharmacy system.

Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that only 48.6% of seniors in our DC sample used telehealth during the pandemic with computer access, and computer self-efficacy playing a significant role. System self-efficacy was also a significant predictor of perceived ease of use. More studies are needed to confirm our study findings.