Effectiveness and feasibility of real-time telerehabilitation for elderly people with musculoskeletal conditions: a systematic review (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND Effectiveness of real-time telerehabilitation (RTTR) were evaluated in this systematic review on physical performance, adherence, and cost-effectiveness among elderly people with musculoskeletal condition. OBJECTIVE A systematic electronic literature search was conducted in Cochrane, PubMed/MEDLINE and PEDro according to PRISMA guidelines. METHODS Systematic review and meta-analysis following PRISMA guidelines. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were conducted in the area that involved elderly people with musculoskeletal conditions and any physical performance indexes were included. video conference and phone call were kind of RTTR was defined as a specific remote rehabilitation intervention to allowing healthcare professional/patient interaction. Information regarding the effect and feasibility (intervention completion rate) of RTTR was extracted from eligible articles. This study is registered on PROSPERO, number CRD42021287289 RESULTS Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used for revised randomized trials to assess methodological quality of the included articles. Eventually, seven studies were included as eligible articles. The overall risk of bias judgment was assessed as “High” in one studies. All studies were conducted in either South Korea, Canada, Italy, the USA, or Australia, and heterogeneity in terms of participants’ health condition and intervention regimen was observed across the studies. Our narrative-based analysis were reported across the seven studies showed that compared with conventional rehabilitation, either equal or better effects on physical performance. The intervention completion rates were 87%± 9 on average (range 67–97%). CONCLUSIONS Although our studies were limited relevant information with heterogeneity make obtain we could not conclusive evidence, our findings suggest that RTTR can be a strategy for rehabilitation service delivery with acceptable feasibility comparable to conventional rehabilitation for elderly people with musculoskeletal. CLINICALTRIAL the PROSPERO registration number CRD42021287289; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/