Psychometric properties of telemedicine perception scales in healthcare workers: A systematic review

<b>Background: </b>The rapid integration of telemedicine into healthcare systems worldwide necessitates a comprehensive understanding of healthcare professionals' perceptions. We aimed to examine the landscape of psychometric instruments used to measure these perceptions, focusing on their design, application and reported psychometric properties.<b>Methods: </b>We conducted a comprehensive search in MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science databases from inception to June 19, 2023. We included studies reporting psychometric properties of scales measuring telemedicine attitudes among healthcare professionals. We extracted data on study characteristics, instrument properties, and psychometric evaluations. We performed a narrative synthesis, stratifying results by instrument type.<b>Results: </b>Sixty studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority (56.7%) were publishedbetween 2020 and 2023 and most publications were from high-income countries. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) represented the most frequently used theoretical framework (16.7% of studies). Notably, 61.7% of studies did not specify the instrument's name. Instruments varied widely in structure, with 10-39 items and 2-8 dimensions. Internal consistency represented the most commonly reported psychometric property (88.3%), while only 25.0% of studies conducted confirmatory factor analysis. Researchers used exploratory factor analysis in 15.0% of studies and assessed relationships with external variables in 18.3%. Only one study (1.67%) evaluated measurement invariance.<b>Conclusions: </b>This review reveals significant heterogeneity in instruments measuring healthcare professionals' perceptions of telemedicine and inconsistencies in reporting psychometric properties. The prevalent use of TAM-based instruments suggests a common theoretical foundation, but variations in implementation limit comparability. <br>