**2. Materials and Methods**

### *2.1. Methodology*

The research methods used in this study included a subject literature analysis and an analysis of the results of own research carried out in Polish healthcare facilities in 2021. The analysis featured the use of descriptive statistics, the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for the development of the relationship between accessibility and effectiveness of telephone consultations. The extracted factors were used to perform a regression analysis to check the impact of accessibility to telehealth consultations on the treatment effectiveness.

According to Hair et al., the number of observations should be ten times higher than the number of variables in the factor analysis model. The minimum acceptable ratio of observations to variables is 5:1. Some researchers accept the ratio of 3:1. The absolute minimum number of observations in the factor model is 50 [65]. In this study, the number of observations is 98. Due to the fact that the 3:1 ratio requirement was met, an EFA analysis was conducted to indicate the variables loading onto two expected latent factors and indicate the initial structure of the factor model. The objective of the analysis was to prepare a questionnaire for a full-scale survey. After the initial EFA analysis, only eight variables were left since the 5:1 sample per item ratio has been satisfied. In addition, a regression analysis was used to evaluate the impact of accessibility on effectiveness.
