Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (Dec 2017)

Effects of telehealth by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas: A systematic review and meta-analysis

  • Renee Speyer,
  • Deborah Denman,
  • Sarah Wilkes-Gillan,
  • Yu-Wei Chen,
  • Hans Bogaardt,
  • Jae-Hyun Kim,
  • Dani-Ella Heckathorn,
  • Reinie Cordier

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2340/16501977-2297
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 50, no. 3
pp. 225 – 235

Abstract

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Objective: To describe telehealth interventions delivered by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas, and to compare the effects of telehealth interventions with standard face-to-face interventions. Data sources: CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed databases were searched. The content of relevant journals and published articles were also searched. Study selection: Studies examining the effectiveness of allied health and nursing telehealth interventions for rural and remote populations were included in descriptive analyses. Studies comparing telehealth intervention with standard face-to-face interventions grouped by type of intervention approach were used to examine between-groups effect sizes. Data extraction: Methodological quality of studies was rated using the QualSyst critical appraisal tool and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Evidence Hierarchy levels. Data synthesis: After quality ratings, 43 studies were included. A majority of studies had strong methodological quality. The disciplines of psychology and nursing were represented most frequently, as were studies using a cognitive intervention approach. Meta-analysis results slightly favoured telehealth interventions compared with face-to-face interventions, but did not show significant differences. Interventions using a combined physical and cognitive approach appeared to be more effective. Conclusion: Telehealth services may be as effective as face-to-face interventions, which is encouraging given the potential benefits of telehealth in rural and remote areas with regards to healthcare access and time and cost savings.

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