EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TELEMEDICINE IN HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN

EXPLORING THE ROLE OF TELEMEDICINE IN HEALTH CARE DELIVERY IN
HOUGANG AREA, SINGAPORE
©April, 2019

DECLARATION
I declare that research project is my original has been done to the best of my ability and
knowledge and it is my original work. It has never been submitted by any other person.
Signature...................................................... Date:..........................................................
The Supervisor Approval
This project has been submitted for examination with my approval as University Supervisor.
.................................................... ...................................
Signature Date
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION.......................................................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................................................iii
LIST OF TABLES.....................................................................................................................................v
LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................................vi
Figure 1: Conceptual framework............................................................................5........vi
ABBREVIATIONS..................................................................................................................................vii
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................................viii
SECTION 1................................................................................................................................................9
1.0 INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................................9
1.1 Information Background.................................................................................... 9
1.2 Statement of the problem.................................................................................2
1.3 Study Objectives............................................................................................... 3
1.3.1 General objective........................................................................................ 3
1.3.2 Specific objectives....................................................................................... 3
1.4 Research Questions........................................................................................... 3
1.5 Hypothesis........................................................................................................ 4
1.6 Conceptual Framework...................................................................................... 4
SECTION 2................................................................................................................................................5
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................................................................5
2.1. Theoretical Framework..................................................................................... 5
2.1.1 Anderson’s Health Behaviour Model............................................................5
2.2 Definition of Telemedicine.................................................................................6
2.3 History of Telemedicine..................................................................................... 6
2.4 Health Information Technology and Telemedicine............................................7
2.5 Benefits of Telemedicine...................................................................................8
2.6. Disadvantages of Telemedicine.....................................................................11
SECTION 3..............................................................................................................................................12
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3.0 METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................12
3.1 Research Design................................................................................................... 13
3.2 Area of Study................................................................................................... 13
The study was carried out in Hougang Area, Singapore (Figure 2)...........................................13
Figure 2: Map of study area (Source; Google map, 2019).....................................................13
3.3 Study Population............................................................................................. 14
The target population for this study was all the adult (above 18 years) resident of Hougang Area,
Singapore................................................................................................................. 14
3.4 Sampling Techniques...................................................................................... 14
3.4.1 Sample Size............................................................................................... 14
A sample random sampling technique was used to select the 384 participants..........................14
3.4.2 Sample size determination........................................................................14
3.4.3 Sampling Method...................................................................................... 14
3.4.4 Recruitment Method.................................................................................. 14
3.5 Data Collection Instrument..............................................................................15
3.6 Data Collection................................................................................................ 15
3.7 Data Analysis and Management......................................................................15
3.8 Ethical Considerations..................................................................................... 15
SECTION 4..............................................................................................................................................16
4.0 ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS...........................................................................................................16
4.1 Response Rate................................................................................................ 16
4.2 Personal Details of the Respondents...............................................................16
4.3 Usability of Telemedicine................................................................................ 18
SECTION 5..............................................................................................................................................19
5.0 DISCUSSION AND EVALUATION................................................................................................19
SECTION 6..............................................................................................................................................23
6.0 CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS...................................................................................23
6.1 CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 23
6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................... 23
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................24
APPENDICE............................................................................................................................................28
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Appendix I: Consent for the Participant.................................................................28
Appendix II: Questionnaire.................................................................................... 29
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Sociodemographic data of the respondents...................................................16
Table 2: Usability of Telemedicine .......................................................................17
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual framework............................................................................5
Figure 2: Map of study area.................................................................................12
Figure 3: Distribution of respondents by gender.........................................................15
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ABBREVIATIONS
ATA American Telemedicine Association
HIT Health Information Technologies
H0 Null Hypothesis
H1 Alternative Hypothesis
ICT Information, Communication Technology
IT Information Technology
SSN Statistics Singapore Newsletter
WHO World Health Organization
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ABSTRACT
Telemedicine amalgamates communication over distance through telephones, telegrams,cables
and broadcast so as to make available use of medical information and Telemedicine is a fast
growing system. Telemedicine is widely used in health, learning and in administration sectors.
Telemedicine is of greatly assistance in integrating electronic medical records thus leading to the
decrease in the number of cases where doctors cannot access patient's records. It has also aided
in fast and delivering of quality service in health sector. The research adopts a cross-sectional
survey study and simple random sampling approach to recruit 370 respondents. Questionnaire
was the main tool for data collection and the collected data were keyed in EpiData (Version 3.1)
database, and then analysed with the SPSS software. The majority of interviewees were male
(62.2%) and most popular age group was 30-39 years (36.8%). Majority (75.3%) of the
respondents were also aware of telemedicine system. Further, majority of the respondents
reported that the system was more reliable and satisfy their needs. Thus, the success of
telemedicine implementation in Hougang Area, Singapore will enable majority of her population
to receive a faster health care services, hence this will help in propelling the idea of universal
health care.
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