Nizeyimana Eugene, Joseph Conran, Louw Quinette A
Division of Physiotherapy, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Digit Health. 2022 Feb 23;8:20552076211066708. doi: 10.1177/20552076211066708. eCollection 2022 Jan-Dec.
Telerehabilitation is an emerging segment of telehealth and telemedicine that has a potential to deliver quality, accessible, cost-effective and efficient rehabilitation services where geographical distance is a critical factor. The objectives of this review are: to describe the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of telerehabilitation, to scope to what extent telerehabilitation has the potential impact on access to quality of rehabilitation services with specific references to low to middle income countries, and to understand key process factors including barriers and facilitators relevant to the implementation of telerehabilitation.
A scoping review of the literature will be conducted. An electronic search literature will be conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane library, Africa-wide information, CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, Web of science and reference lists. The review team will develop a data charting form and pilot it on four randomly-selected studies. The form will be refined based on the results of the piloted articles. Studies identified will be screened at the title and abstract levels by the first reviewer, followed by an independent verification for the accuracy and eligibility by two more reviewers prior to obtaining the full texts. Studies to be included must report on feasibility, cost-effectiveness, access to rehabilitation services, implementation process factors including barriers and facilitators of telerehabilitation. The analysis will include both descriptive summary and inductive thematic analysis.
Telerehabilitation has ability to change the current standard of care and allow for improved access and health outcomes in cost-effective ways, while addressing the scarce and unequal distribution of limited number of healthcare providers especially in low to middle income country settings. Thus, the research findings could be used by different stakeholders including: researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and implementation teams as they determine the appropriate setup for new telerehabilitation programs.
远程康复是远程医疗保健和远程医学中一个新兴领域，在地理距离成为关键因素的情况下，它有潜力提供高质量、可及、具有成本效益且高效的康复服务。本综述的目的是：描述远程康复的可行性和成本效益，探讨远程康复在多大程度上有可能影响获得高质量康复服务的机会，并特别提及低收入和中等收入国家，以及了解包括与远程康复实施相关的障碍和促进因素在内的关键过程因素。
将对文献进行范围综述。将在PubMed、Scopus、Cochrane图书馆、全非洲信息数据库、护理学与健康领域数据库（CINAHL）、医学文献数据库（MEDLINE）、ProQuest、科学网以及参考文献列表中进行电子文献检索。综述团队将制定一份数据图表表格，并在四项随机选择的研究中进行试用。将根据试用文章的结果对表格进行完善。首先由一位审阅者在标题和摘要层面筛选所确定的研究，然后在获取全文之前，另外两位审阅者对其准确性和合格性进行独立核实。纳入的研究必须报告远程康复的可行性、成本效益、获得康复服务的情况、实施过程因素，包括障碍和促进因素。分析将包括描述性总结和归纳性主题分析。
远程康复有能力改变当前的护理标准，并以具有成本效益的方式改善服务可及性和健康结果，同时解决有限数量的医疗保健提供者分布稀少且不均衡的问题，尤其是在低收入和中等收入国家背景下。因此，不同的利益相关者，包括研究人员、临床医生、政策制定者和实施团队，在确定新的远程康复项目的适当设置时，可以利用这些研究结果。
