Premium
Telerheumatology: A Systematic Review
Author(s) -
McDougall John A.,
Ferucci Elizabeth D.,
Glover Janis,
Fraenkel Liana
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
arthritis care and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.032
H-Index - 163
eISSN - 2151-4658
pISSN - 2151-464X
DOI - 10.1002/acr.23153
Subject(s) - medicine , telemedicine , medline , meta analysis , rheumatoid arthritis , scopus , systematic review , disease management , data extraction , disease , intensive care medicine , physical therapy , health care , political science , parkinson's disease , law , economics , economic growth
Objective To identify and summarize the published and gray literature on the use of telemedicine for the diagnosis and management of inflammatory and/or autoimmune rheumatic disease. Methods We performed a registered systematic search (CRD42015025382) for studies using MEDLINE (1946 to July 2015), Embase (1974 to July 2015), Web of Science (1900 to July 2015), and Scopus (1946 to July 2015) databases. We included studies that demonstrated the use of telemedicine for diagnosis and/or management of inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic disease. Following data extraction, we performed a descriptive analysis. Results Our literature search identified 1,468 potentially eligible studies. Of these studies, 20 were ultimately included in this review. Studies varied significantly in publication type, quality of evidence, and the reporting of methods. Most demonstrated a high risk of bias. Rheumatoid arthritis was the most commonly studied rheumatic disease (42% of patients). Studies demonstrated conflicting results regarding the effectiveness of telemedicine (18 found it effective, 1 found it effective but possibly harmful, and 1 found it ineffective). A limited number of studies included some component of a cost analysis (n = 6; 16% of patients); all of these found telemedicine to be cost‐effective. Conclusion Studies identified by this systematic review generally found telemedicine to be effective for the diagnosis and management of autoimmune/inflammatory rheumatic disease; however, there is limited evidence to support this conclusion. Further studies are needed to determine the best uses of telemedicine for the diagnosis and management of these conditions.