Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review
Long COVID syndrome has been recognized as a public health problem. Digital physiotherapy practice is an alternative that can better meet the needs of patients. The aim of this review was to synthesize the evidence of digital physiotherapy practice in Long COVID patients. A systematic review was car...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-07-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1970 |
| _version_ | 1797591621129207808 |
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| author | María-José Estebanez-Pérez Rocío Martín-Valero Maria Jesus Vinolo-Gil José-Manuel Pastora-Bernal |
| author_facet | María-José Estebanez-Pérez Rocío Martín-Valero Maria Jesus Vinolo-Gil José-Manuel Pastora-Bernal |
| author_sort | María-José Estebanez-Pérez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Long COVID syndrome has been recognized as a public health problem. Digital physiotherapy practice is an alternative that can better meet the needs of patients. The aim of this review was to synthesize the evidence of digital physiotherapy practice in Long COVID patients. A systematic review was carried out until December 2022. The review was complemented by an assessment of the risk of bias and methodological quality. A narrative synthesis of results was conducted, including subgroup analyses by intervention and clinical outcomes. Six articles, including 540 participants, were selected. Five articles were considered of high enough methodological quality. Parallel-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trials were the most commonly used research design. Tele-supervised home-based exercise training was the most commonly used intervention. Great heterogeneity in clinical outcomes and measurement tools was found. A subgroup analysis showed that digital physiotherapy is effective in improving clinical outcomes. Significant differences in favor of digital interventions over usual care were reported. Nevertheless, discrepancies regarding effectiveness were found. Improvements in clinical outcomes with digital physiotherapy were found to be at least non-inferior to usual care. This review provides new evidence that digital physiotherapy practice is an appropriate intervention for Long COVID patients, despite the inherent limitations of the review. Registration: CRD42022379004. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:40:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-493a94150bd644b0b8e40bbd807f6d16 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T01:40:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Healthcare |
| spelling | doaj.art-493a94150bd644b0b8e40bbd807f6d162023-11-18T16:37:43ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-07-011113197010.3390/healthcare11131970Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic ReviewMaría-José Estebanez-Pérez0Rocío Martín-Valero1Maria Jesus Vinolo-Gil2José-Manuel Pastora-Bernal3Department of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Science, University of Malaga, 29071 Málaga, SpainDepartment of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Science, University of Malaga, 29071 Málaga, SpainDepartment of Nursing and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Nursing and Physiotherapy, University of Cadiz, 11009 Cadiz, SpainDepartment of Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Science, University of Malaga, 29071 Málaga, SpainLong COVID syndrome has been recognized as a public health problem. Digital physiotherapy practice is an alternative that can better meet the needs of patients. The aim of this review was to synthesize the evidence of digital physiotherapy practice in Long COVID patients. A systematic review was carried out until December 2022. The review was complemented by an assessment of the risk of bias and methodological quality. A narrative synthesis of results was conducted, including subgroup analyses by intervention and clinical outcomes. Six articles, including 540 participants, were selected. Five articles were considered of high enough methodological quality. Parallel-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trials were the most commonly used research design. Tele-supervised home-based exercise training was the most commonly used intervention. Great heterogeneity in clinical outcomes and measurement tools was found. A subgroup analysis showed that digital physiotherapy is effective in improving clinical outcomes. Significant differences in favor of digital interventions over usual care were reported. Nevertheless, discrepancies regarding effectiveness were found. Improvements in clinical outcomes with digital physiotherapy were found to be at least non-inferior to usual care. This review provides new evidence that digital physiotherapy practice is an appropriate intervention for Long COVID patients, despite the inherent limitations of the review. Registration: CRD42022379004.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1970digital physiotherapy practicetelerehabilitationtelemedicineLong COVIDpersistent COVID syndrome |
| spellingShingle | María-José Estebanez-Pérez Rocío Martín-Valero Maria Jesus Vinolo-Gil José-Manuel Pastora-Bernal Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review Healthcare digital physiotherapy practice telerehabilitation telemedicine Long COVID persistent COVID syndrome |
| title | Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_full | Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_fullStr | Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_short | Effectiveness of Digital Physiotherapy Practice Compared to Usual Care in Long COVID Patients: A Systematic Review |
| title_sort | effectiveness of digital physiotherapy practice compared to usual care in long covid patients a systematic review |
| topic | digital physiotherapy practice telerehabilitation telemedicine Long COVID persistent COVID syndrome |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/13/1970 |
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