Doctors’ experiences using digital consulting with adolescent patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

We explored doctors’ experiences with adolescent digital consulting during the COVID-19 pandemic. A phenomenological design was utilized and data obtained from June to July 2020. In-depth interviews were conducted via phone call with 20 doctors (12 female and eight male) purposively selected from a teaching hospital, a university clinic and a private hospital in Ibadan, Nigeria. Data were analysed thematically using Atlas.ti version 8. Identified themes included: doctors’ experiences with adolescent digital consulting prior to and during the pandemic, perception of adolescents’ disposition towards digital consulting during the pandemic, and perception of the future of digital consulting post-pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, consulting was almost exclusively in-person although many doctors had conducted adolescent digital consultations (mainly via phone call). During the pandemic, consulting was predominantly digital through phone calls. A few doctors utilized free chat, voice and video-over-internet applications. Adolescent digital consulting was impeded by privacy concerns and inability to observe and examine patients. Other constraints were fluctuating network, call costs and limitation to voice-only platforms. Some doctors felt adolescent patients were comfortable with digital consulting while others reported that they were dissatisfied. Generally, doctors felt adolescent digital consulting would become popular post-pandemic but would not replace in-person consulting. Our findings contribute to existing knowledge about adolescent digital consulting. The concerns with the limitations of digital consulting need to be addressed to improve acceptance by doctors and adolescent patients especially as the world embraces it as an option for improving healthcare access.