The use of telemedicine in mitigating the effects of reduced antenatal care visits during the COVID-19 infection lockdown in Nigeria

Abstract

Aims and Objectives: The study evaluated the use of telemedicine in the management of pregnant women during the COVID-19 in Nigeria. Subjects and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among medical practitioners that care for pregnant women and a self-administered online questionnaire (google form) was used to obtain relevant information from the respondents. Data were analyzed using Stata software version 16. Results: A total of 138 medical practitioners participated in the study. The mean age of the participants was 41.30± 7.5 years. Seventy (51.47%) work in national public tertiary health institutions while 27(19.85%) work in-state public tertiary and 19(13.97%) in private specialist hospitals. There was a significant reduction in the number of patients seen during the period when compared to the number before the pandemic(p=0.013). Fifty-one (36.96%) of the medical practitioners said they practiced telemedicine, with the majority 41(80.39%) using audio calls. Conclusion: The use of telemedicine was poor among the medical practitioners despite the drop in antenatal attendance.