Telerehab and telemedicine solutions are suitable for a number of different conditions and settings. Rural environments are particularly suitable for the use of telehealth technology. Are the patients satisfied with this approach?
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of telemedicine in physiotherapy has suddenly and significantly increased. The volume of research comparing results and patient satisfaction between telehealth and traditional consultations is also increasing.
For many patients, personal treatment will always be a necessity, but for others, especially in long-term conditions or in rural areas, the management of video conferences or apps is more efficient and convenient. The use of telemedicine in rural areas is the focus of a new systematic review published in the International Journal of Telerehabilitation. Specifically with the aim of evaluating patient satisfaction .
Make your virtual meetings exciting
Methods of systematic review
This systematic review specifically aimed to evaluate the reports of the patients about their satisfaction with telehealth compared to the personal standard therapy for patients in rural areas.
The systematic review was not registered with PROSPERO, but followed the PRISMA rules. CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsychINFO, and Cochrane Library were the databases used for the search. The full search string for each database is available. As an example Medline:
(telemedicine OR telerehabilitation OR remote counseling OR teleradiology OR telepathology OR remote counseling) AND (patient satisfaction OR patient preference OR personal satisfaction) AND (rural population OR rural health services OR rural health OR rural care)
Articles were excluded if published before 2009 along with unpublished studies, editorials, and other review articles. Only studies with evidence I-V were included and had to be peer-reviewed and came from physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and language and language consultations. The decision to exclude unpublished studies is a limitation as it is likely to bias the publication and bias the results of the review.
A total of 4 studies were included in the review, two of which were based in the USA, one in Australia and the other in New Zealand. All used patient satisfaction as the primary outcome measure and this was assessed qualitatively. Only synchronous solutions were used in the review.
Results & clinical take-away
The vast majority of the patients included in the review were satisfied with Telehealth and in many cases preferred it to traditional care . This is due to the difficulty, cost, and in some cases risk, of traveling to hospitals from rural locations. This is especially true in long-term conditions where routine follow-up does not require a physical exam.
Brief summary of telehealth in rural areas
Training and rehab plans can be boring and lengthy compared to face-to-face sessions compromising program compliance
Patient satisfaction is high when using telehealth solutions, and highest when using synchronous video conferences
A bad internet connection is the biggest obstacle
Many people who live in social communities prefer telemedicine to personal therapy
Further RCTs are needed to definitively compare the results of telehealth and traditional consultation under certain conditions
This systematic review has a number of limitations. The main limitation is the decision not to include unpublished studies, conference summaries, and posters, as this includes the risk of publication bias in the results, which limits the results. Since only 4 studies are included in the review results, generalizability is limited. However, the results of this review are supported by other systematic review results.
There are a number of different strategies that can be employed to increase patient satisfaction and to prevent training plans from becoming boring and boring with virtual delivery. Please see below for more information.
