Examining the Willingness to Utilize Telehealth Among Women Who Own a Smartphone and Live in Urban Areas of Nigeria

Background: In Nigeria, women face significant barriers to accessing health care, including long distances to health care facilities, lack of autonomy, stigma surrounding health concerns, and the unavailability of primary and specialty care. Telehealth can facilitate access to care by eliminating physical distance barriers and enhancing ease and privacy. Yet, limited research has been conducted on its use and how it is perceived in Nigeria. Methods: Guided by the theoretical framework of acceptability (TFA), this study explored Nigerian women’s perceptions of telehealth and assessed for behavioral factors that influence willingness to use telehealth. Two hundred and eighty-eight adult women living in urban areas of Nigeria completed an online survey. Results: Most respondents reported willingness to use telehealth (93.0%), with 69 (25.3%) very willing and 152 (55.7%) willing to use telehealth. Although 50.0% of the respondents reported having heard about telehealth, only 74 (27.2%) reported prior experience using telehealth, out of which 46 (69.7%) and 14 (21.2%), respectively, reported positive and very positive experiences using telehealth. Although all TFA constructs were correlated with willingness to use telehealth, only positive view of telehealth burden ( β = 0.19, p = 0.03) and self-efficacy ( β = 0.20, p = 0.015) were significant unique predictors of willingness. Conclusions: This study provides insight into how telehealth might be adopted by Nigerian women and suggests that although only a few have previously utilized telehealth and only half of the respondents had been aware of telehealth prior to taking the survey, most are willing to utilize it to meet their health care needs.