Public Perceptions of Electronic Health Services in Bangladesh During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In the study, we aimed to assess the public perceptions of the prevalence, satisfaction and challenges of electronic health (e-health) services in Bangladesh. An online survey with a self-administered structured interview was conducted with 150 respondents to collect general perceptions from people living in rural and urban areas. The study revealed that the prevalence of e-health services was moderate in Bangladesh. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people accessed online vaccine registrations (58%) and telemedicine (23%) and downloaded COVID test reports (17%). The study did not find an association between e-health services and the respondents’ age, gender, living conditions and marital status based on the results of the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test (p > 0.05). Spearman’s correlation coefficient confirmed that individuals were moderately satisfied with their access to e-health services (r = .536), the availability of updated COVID-related information on websites (r = .585), and government advertisements (r = .547). The respondents reported major challenges such as high internet costs, lack of awareness, insufficient internet speed, and an information gap regarding e-health services in Bangladesh. These results offer important insights to laypeople, health experts and practitioners, policymakers and government health authorities.