Telerehabilitation as a Therapeutic Exercise Tool versus Face-to-Face Physiotherapy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Digital physiotherapy, often referred to as “Telerehabilitation”, consists of applying rehabilitation using telecommunication technologies. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of therapeutic exercise when it is telematically prescribed. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Scopus, SportDiscus and PEDro (30 December 2022). The results were obtained by entering a combination of MeSH or Emtree terms with keywords related to telerehabilitation and exercise therapy. RCTs on patients over 18 years and two groups were included, one working with therapeutic exercise through telerehabilitation and one working with conventional physiotherapy group. Results: a total of 779 works were found. However, after applying the inclusion criteria, only 11 were selected. Telerehabilitation is most frequently used to treat musculoskeletal, cardiac and neurological pathologies. The preferred telerehabilitation tools are videoconferencing systems, telemonitoring and online platforms. Exercise programs ranged from 10 to 30 min and were similar in both intervention and control groups. In all the studies, results proved to be similar for telerehabilitation and face-to-face rehabilitation in both groups when measuring functionality, quality of life and satisfaction. Conclusion: this review generally concludes that intervention through telerehabilitation programs is as feasible and efficient as conventional physiotherapy in terms of functionality level and quality of life. In addition, telerehabilitation shows high levels of patients’ satisfaction and adherence, being values equivalent to traditional rehabilitation.

Telerehabilitation in Low-Resource Settings to Improve Postural Balance in Older Adults: A Non-Inferiority Randomised Controlled Clinical Trial Protocol

“…Telerehabilitation has been shown to achieve high levels of patient satisfaction and adherence, with values like those of traditional face-to-face/in-person rehabilitation methods. This suggests that telerehabilitation can be a viable and effective alternative for delivering rehabilitation interventions, with outcomes to comparable those of conventional in-person physiotherapy [ 53 ].…”

From bedside to recovery: exercise therapy for prevention of post-intensive care syndrome

“…Data analytics can further fine-tune treatment plans and provide valuable insights for ongoing research. Overall, the adoption of telehealth and app-based solutions in post-ICU rehabilitation has the potential to overcome current barriers associated with ICU follow-up services and improve both functional outcomes and QOL for survivors of critical illness [ 157 , 158 ].…”

Qualitative exploration of physical therapists' experiences providing telehealth physical therapy during COVID-19

“…According to recent research, telehealth physical therapy is cost-effective ( Cottrell et al, 2017 ; Nelson et al, 2021 ), and studies have shown promising outcomes in the treatment of pulmonary and heart disease ( Tsai et al, 2017 ), arthritis and musculoskeletal conditions ( Cottrell et al, 2017 ), post-operative rehabilitation ( Pastora-Bernal et al, 2017 ), and breast cancer ( Galiano-Castillo et al, 2016 ). Other studies found that telehealth physical therapy improves patients' adherence to treatment and reduces health costs ( Bettger et al, 2020 ; Muñoz-Tomás et al, 2023 ). These studies have provided evidence of the effectiveness of telehealth physical therapy but suffered from many methodological weaknesses ( Turolla et al, 2020 ).…”