The Role of Tele-rehabilitation with Arthritic Patients: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Abstract The rising tendencies of population ageing lead to increased incidences of chronic health conditions, which are leading contributors to high prevalence of arthritis and its negative effects on patients worldwide, including possible deformity that may result in disability. Given the peculiarities of such autoimmune diseases as arthritis, ongoing medical attention is required to mitigate potential health deterioration. Notably, the integration of innovative approaches towards arthritis management might improve patient outcomes. The technological advances enable the utilisation of numerous virtual communication channels to facilitate the delivery of care. The title of the given research is The Role of Tele-rehabilitation with Arthritic Patients. It takes the form of a scoping literature review and analyses current studies focused on telehealth programmes and interventions for arthritis management. Admittedly, the theoretical underpinning for the scoping review design was initially suggested by Arksey & O’Malley (2005) and further refined by Levac et al. (2010) and the Joanna Briggs Institute. The core objectives of the study have been to identify the extent of research focused on telerehabilitation for arthritis patients, define the key characteristics of telerehabilitation, and discuss the related factors of intervention that correlated with telerehabilitation. The review featured 18 peer-reviewed articles that were divided into 2 groups. Sixteen studies discussed the efficiency of integrating videoconferencing, phone calls/ applications, and Internet-delivered training sessions into arthritis treatment plans (see Table 1), whereas four articles (two of which were also featured in Table 1) investigated the effect of aerobic, resistance- and balance-focused intervention on the discussed issue. The discussion and conclusion of this review was essential in providing meaning to the research findings. The findings indicated that there is an increase in the number of studies investigating the use of telerehabilitation as an approach to management of arthritis in patients.