Pommer Alexa, Sarmento Antonio, Singer Alexander, Loewen Hal, Torres-Castro Rodrigo, Sanchez-Ramirez Diana C
Department of Respiratory Therapy, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Department of Family Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Digit Health. 2024 Mar 27;10:20552076241239239. doi: 10.1177/20552076241239239. eCollection 2024 Jan-Dec.
Chronic cough is a frequent reason for seeking consultation with primary care providers. The recent widespread adoption of virtual care offers a promising alternative that can be used to optimize the assessment and management of this condition. The objective of this review was to map and identify the strategies used to assess and/or manage chronic cough virtually, and to explore their impact on cough severity and patient satisfaction with virtual care.
A scoping review was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINAHL in May 2023. Research questions were defined based on the Population, Concept, Context mnemonic, and literature search was conducted using a three-step approach. Study selection involved the steps of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. A descriptive synthesis was performed, and quantitative variables were presented as absolute and relative frequencies.
A total of 4953 studies were identified and seven met the inclusion criteria. The following mHealth and telehealth strategies were identified: diagnostic website, specialized online clinic, online speech language therapy, and remote follow-up to assess the effectiveness of in-person interventions. Results indicated that these virtual strategies can be useful to assess chronic cough, treat, and track chronic cough symptoms. Overall, patients were satisfied with the approaches.
Although literature is scarce, evidence suggests that virtual strategies for the assessment and management of chronic cough may be effective and are well-received by patients. However, further research is needed to identify the type and characteristics of virtual approaches leading to optimize and facilitate the care of patients with this condition. This will also help develop a strong body of evidence to support their incorporation into guidelines and clinical practice.
慢性咳嗽是患者寻求初级保健医生咨询的常见原因。近期虚拟医疗的广泛应用提供了一种有前景的替代方案，可用于优化对这种病症的评估和管理。本综述的目的是梳理并确定用于虚拟评估和/或管理慢性咳嗽的策略，并探讨这些策略对咳嗽严重程度以及患者对虚拟医疗满意度的影响。
2023年5月在MEDLINE、EMBASE和CINAHL数据库中进行了一项范围综述。根据“人群、概念、背景”记忆法确定研究问题，并采用三步法进行文献检索。研究选择包括识别、筛选、合格性评估和纳入等步骤。进行了描述性综合分析，定量变量以绝对频率和相对频率呈现。
共识别出4953项研究，其中7项符合纳入标准。确定了以下移动健康和远程医疗策略：诊断网站、专业在线诊所、在线言语治疗以及对面对面干预效果进行评估的远程随访。结果表明，这些虚拟策略可用于评估慢性咳嗽、治疗并跟踪慢性咳嗽症状。总体而言，患者对这些方法感到满意。
尽管相关文献较少，但有证据表明，用于评估和管理慢性咳嗽的虚拟策略可能有效且受到患者欢迎。然而，需要进一步研究以确定能优化并促进对该病症患者护理的虚拟方法的类型和特点。这也将有助于形成有力的证据支持将其纳入指南和临床实践。
