Solomon, RM, Dhakal, R, Halpin, SJ orcid.org/0000-0002-0417-8928 et al. (4 more authors) (2022) Telerehabilitation for individuals with spinal cord injury in low-and middle-income countries: a systematic review of the literature. Spinal Cord, 60. pp. 395-403. ISSN 1362-4393 (Submitted)
Abstract
Study design
Systematic review.
Objective
To systematically review the evidence for the effectiveness of telerehabilitation as an intervention for people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Setting
Not applicable.
Methods
MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Pubmed and Global Health databases were used to identify studies published between 1946–2020 meeting the following criteria: (1) patients with SCI diagnosis; (2) in LMIC; (3) an outcome measuring clinical functional ability, quality of life or all-cause mortality reduction. The risk of bias in studies was graded using revised Cochrane risk-of-bias tool in randomised trials (RoB 2) and risk-of-bias tool in non-randomised trials (ROBINS-I). Evidence levels were graded with Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE).
Results
In total, 107 articles were identified from the initial search. After screening, five studies were included. Some significant improvements to quality of life and pressure ulcer management were observed, alongside some improvement in functional ability with suggested improvement to depression scores. Telerehabilitation alleviated participants’ sense of social isolation, improved satisfaction scores and assisted them to remember techniques for SCI management. Telerehabilitation was valued by health professionals. There was no reduction in all-cause mortality.
Conclusion
There is insufficient evidence to recommend telerehabilitation as an intervention to treat and manage SCI in LMICs, although there is an indication of potential patient benefit. Further research is required to better understand the causal mechanisms underpinning the use of telerehabilitation and establish its efficacy, in the context of resource-limited settings.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2022. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Institute of Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM) (Leeds) > Rehabilitation Medicine (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) Not Known |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 18 Mar 2022 16:08 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jul 2022 09:57 |
Status: | Submitted |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41393-022-00797-8 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:184872 |