Effectiveness of Telemedicine for Musculoskeletal Disorders: Umbrella Review

Abstract

Background Several systematic reviews (SRs) assessing the use of telemedicine for musculoskeletal conditions have been published in recent years. However, the landscape of evidence on multiple clinical outcomes remains unclear. Objective We aimed to summarize the available evidence from SRs on telemedicine for musculoskeletal disorders. Methods We conducted an umbrella review of SRs with and without meta-analysis by searching PubMed and EMBASE up to July 25, 2022, for SRs of randomized controlled trials assessing telemedicine. We collected any kind of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), patient-reported experience measures (PREMs), and objective measures, including direct and indirect costs. We assessed the methodological quality with the AMSTAR 2 tool (A Measurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2). Findings were reported qualitatively. Results Overall, 35 SRs published between 2015 and 2022 were included. Most reviews (n=24, 69%) were rated as critically low quality by AMSTAR 2. The majority of reviews assessed “telerehabilitation” (n=29) in patients with osteoarthritis (n=13) using PROMs (n=142 outcomes mapped with n=60 meta-analyses). A substantive body of evidence from meta-analyses found telemedicine to be beneficial or equal in terms of PROMs compared to conventional care (n=57 meta-analyses). Meta-analyses showed no differences between groups in PREMs (n=4), while objectives measures (ie, “physical function”) were mainly in favor of telemedicine or showed no difference (9/13). All SRs showed notably lower costs for telemedicine compared to in-person visits. Conclusions Telemedicine can provide more accessible health care with noninferior results for various clinical outcomes in comparison with conventional care. The assessment of telemedicine is largely represented by PROMs, with some gaps for PREMs, objective measures, and costs. Trial Registration PROSPERO CRD42022347366; https://osf.io/pxedm/

Acceptance, Satisfaction, and Preference With Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021-2022: Survey Among Patients With Chronic Pain

“…This trend has been encouraged by various interest groups and associations advocating the rapid transition to remote services [ 1 ], especially because it can be argued that the COVID-19 pandemic not only exacerbates already persistent pain conditions but also increases the incidence of new-onset pain [ 2 ]. While some studies have examined the efficacy of eHealth for the treatment of several conditions (eg, osteoarthritis [ 3 ], musculoskeletal conditions [ 4 , 5 ], and chronic pain [ 6 ]), evidence from the patients’ perspective remains scarce, so that patients’ preferences are largely unknown, especially during this new era of the COVID-19 pandemic.…”