Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review

Abstract Background Lifestyle behaviours related to smoking, alcohol, nutrition, and physical activity are leading risk factors for the development of chronic disease. For people in rural areas, access to individualised lifestyle services targeting behaviour change may be improved by using telehealt...

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Main Authors: Jaimee Herbert, Tracy Schumacher, Leanne J. Brown, Erin D. Clarke, Clare E. Collins
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-09-01
Series:International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01505-2
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author Jaimee Herbert
Tracy Schumacher
Leanne J. Brown
Erin D. Clarke
Clare E. Collins
author_facet Jaimee Herbert
Tracy Schumacher
Leanne J. Brown
Erin D. Clarke
Clare E. Collins
author_sort Jaimee Herbert
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Lifestyle behaviours related to smoking, alcohol, nutrition, and physical activity are leading risk factors for the development of chronic disease. For people in rural areas, access to individualised lifestyle services targeting behaviour change may be improved by using telehealth. However, the scope of literature investigating telehealth lifestyle behaviour change interventions for rural populations is unknown, making it difficult to ascertain whether telehealth interventions require adaptation for rural context via a systematic review. This scoping review aimed to address this gap, by mapping existing literature describing telehealth lifestyle interventions delivered to rural populations to determine if there is scope for systematic review of intervention effectiveness in this research topic. Methods The PRISMA extension for scoping review checklist guided the processes of this scoping review. A search of eight electronic databases reported in English language until June 2023 was conducted. Eligible studies included adults (18 years and over), who lived in rural areas of high-income countries and undertook at least one synchronous (video or phone consultation) telehealth intervention that addressed either addictive (smoking or alcohol), or non-addictive lifestyle behaviours (nutrition or physical activity). Studies targeting addictive and non-addictive behaviours were separated after full text screening to account for the involvement of addictive substances in smoking and alcohol studies that may impact behaviour change interventions described. Studies targeting nutrition and/or physical activity interventions are presented here. Results The search strategy identified 17179 citations across eight databases, with 7440 unique citations once duplicates were removed. Full texts for 492 citations were retrieved and screened for inclusion with 85 publications reporting on 73 studies eligible for data extraction and analysis. Of this, addictive behaviours were comprised of 15 publications from 13 studies. Non-addictive behaviours included 70 publications from 58 studies and are reported here. Most interventions were delivered within the United States of America (n = 43, 74.1%). The most common study design reported was Randomised Control Trial (n = 27, 46.6%). Included studies involved synchronous telehealth interventions targeting nutrition (11, 18.9%), physical activity (5, 8.6%) or nutrition and physical activity (41, 70.7%) and were delivered predominately via videoconference (n = 17, 29.3%). Conclusions Despite differences in intervention characteristics, the number of randomised control trials published suggests sufficient scope for future systematic reviews to determine intervention effectiveness related to nutrition and physical activity telehealth interventions for rural populations. Trial registration The scoping review protocol was not pre-registered.
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spelling doaj.art-d971ec6ca3b4486785b4eae0d2685ac02023-11-20T10:57:19ZengBMCInternational Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity1479-58682023-09-0120111310.1186/s12966-023-01505-2Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping reviewJaimee Herbert0Tracy Schumacher1Leanne J. Brown2Erin D. Clarke3Clare E. Collins4School of Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics), Department of Rural Health, University of NewcastleSchool of Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics), Department of Rural Health, University of NewcastleSchool of Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics), Department of Rural Health, University of NewcastleSchool of Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics), University of NewcastleSchool of Health Sciences (Nutrition and Dietetics), University of NewcastleAbstract Background Lifestyle behaviours related to smoking, alcohol, nutrition, and physical activity are leading risk factors for the development of chronic disease. For people in rural areas, access to individualised lifestyle services targeting behaviour change may be improved by using telehealth. However, the scope of literature investigating telehealth lifestyle behaviour change interventions for rural populations is unknown, making it difficult to ascertain whether telehealth interventions require adaptation for rural context via a systematic review. This scoping review aimed to address this gap, by mapping existing literature describing telehealth lifestyle interventions delivered to rural populations to determine if there is scope for systematic review of intervention effectiveness in this research topic. Methods The PRISMA extension for scoping review checklist guided the processes of this scoping review. A search of eight electronic databases reported in English language until June 2023 was conducted. Eligible studies included adults (18 years and over), who lived in rural areas of high-income countries and undertook at least one synchronous (video or phone consultation) telehealth intervention that addressed either addictive (smoking or alcohol), or non-addictive lifestyle behaviours (nutrition or physical activity). Studies targeting addictive and non-addictive behaviours were separated after full text screening to account for the involvement of addictive substances in smoking and alcohol studies that may impact behaviour change interventions described. Studies targeting nutrition and/or physical activity interventions are presented here. Results The search strategy identified 17179 citations across eight databases, with 7440 unique citations once duplicates were removed. Full texts for 492 citations were retrieved and screened for inclusion with 85 publications reporting on 73 studies eligible for data extraction and analysis. Of this, addictive behaviours were comprised of 15 publications from 13 studies. Non-addictive behaviours included 70 publications from 58 studies and are reported here. Most interventions were delivered within the United States of America (n = 43, 74.1%). The most common study design reported was Randomised Control Trial (n = 27, 46.6%). Included studies involved synchronous telehealth interventions targeting nutrition (11, 18.9%), physical activity (5, 8.6%) or nutrition and physical activity (41, 70.7%) and were delivered predominately via videoconference (n = 17, 29.3%). Conclusions Despite differences in intervention characteristics, the number of randomised control trials published suggests sufficient scope for future systematic reviews to determine intervention effectiveness related to nutrition and physical activity telehealth interventions for rural populations. Trial registration The scoping review protocol was not pre-registered.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01505-2NutritionPhysical activityTelehealthRural
spellingShingle Jaimee Herbert
Tracy Schumacher
Leanne J. Brown
Erin D. Clarke
Clare E. Collins
Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity
Nutrition
Physical activity
Telehealth
Rural
title Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
title_full Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
title_fullStr Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
title_full_unstemmed Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
title_short Delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas: a scoping review
title_sort delivery of telehealth nutrition and physical activity interventions to adults living in rural areas a scoping review
topic Nutrition
Physical activity
Telehealth
Rural
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-023-01505-2
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