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Telemedicine came into wide use during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, access to and use of telemedicine may vary according to factors such as age, educational attainment, income, employment status and place of residence, though it has long been unclear whether these disparities would narrow as the use of telemedicine spread.

In a study appearing in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, researchers at the University of Tsukuba followed 10,818 adults aged 18–75 years who participated in both the 2020 and 2024 waves of a nationwide internet survey in Japan to identify changes in the proportions of individuals who had ever used telemedicine by age, educational attainment, income level, employment status and urban or rural residence.

The proportion of participants who had used telemedicine increased from 2.6% in 2020 to 7.0% in 2024. However, the rate of increase differed by population group, rising substantially among younger adults but only modestly among older adults, leading to a widening gap by age group. The increase was also smaller among participants who were unemployed at baseline than among higher-status nonmanual workers.

In contrast, trends over the four-year period did not significantly differ by educational attainment, household income or urban versus rural residence. Overall, although telemedicine use expanded, there was no clear evidence that disparities in its adoption narrowed over time.

These findings indicate that the continued expansion of telemedicine alone may not be sufficient to reduce age-related and socioeconomic disparities in its use, suggesting that for more equitable telemedicine adoption, it may be necessary to not only promote broader adoption but also provide targeted support for individuals who face barriers to accessing and using digital health services.

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