Ravindrane Ramyadevi, Patel Jay
Health Education East of England, Cambridge, UK.
University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
Future Healthc J. 2022 Mar;9(1):28-33. doi: 10.7861/fhj.2021-0148.
Health services have considerable environmental impacts through the production of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Changes to service provision are needed to mitigate these impacts. Telemedicine may be one tool to achieve this through reductions in travel.
A systematic literature review was conducted using four databases. The search was limited to original studies in English. Studies were critically appraised using a cross sectional and economic modelling tool. Results were extracted for environmental impacts of the telemedicine service. The reporting of this review is line with PRISMA guidelines.
Out of 2,916 search results, 14 met full inclusion criteria. All 14 studies found an environmental benefit of telemedicine versus face-to-face consultations through reduced greenhouse gas emissions from travel. Three studies found there to be fewer greenhouse gas emissions through telemedicine consultations after accounting for greenhouse gas emissions from the use of telemedicine equipment.
医疗服务通过产生温室气体和空气污染物对环境产生重大影响。需要改变服务提供方式以减轻这些影响。远程医疗可能是通过减少出行来实现这一目标的一种手段。
使用四个数据库进行了系统的文献综述。搜索仅限于英文原创研究。使用横断面和经济建模工具对研究进行严格评估。提取了远程医疗服务对环境影响的结果。本综述的报告符合PRISMA指南。
在2916条搜索结果中，14项符合完全纳入标准。所有14项研究均发现，与面对面咨询相比，远程医疗通过减少出行产生的温室气体排放对环境有益。三项研究发现，在考虑了远程医疗设备使用产生的温室气体排放后，远程医疗咨询产生的温室气体排放更少。
