SynthesisPhysical therapy2021
Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation in Physical Therapy: A Rapid Overview.
Synthesis in Physical therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 6 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 248 papers, 14 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Digitally Delivered Exercise and Education Treatment for Shoulder Pain: 3 Months Follow-up
The Effect of an Online-supervised Exercise Program in Elderly People With Diabetes on Fasting Blood Sugar, Psychological Resilience, and Quality of Life: A Double Blind Randomize Controlled Trial
A Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation With Trak in Patients With Knee or Shoulder Pathology.
Comparative Study of the Effectiveness Between Models of Conventional Therapy vs Telerehabilitation With TRAK in Patients Undergoing Axillary Lymph Node Removal (Axillary Lymphadenectomy) as Part of Therapy Against Breast Cancer.
A Randomized Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation With Trak in Combination With the Traditional Treatment in Patients Who Have Undergone Knee Prothesis Surgery
Feasibility and Preliminary Effects of a Tele-Education-Based Ergonomic and Hand Exercise Program in Office Workers
Who cites it
248 citing papers in PubMed, 14 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 527 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effectiveness of Interactive Remote Rehabilitation After Total Knee Arthroplasty: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of maintenance interventions promoting physical activity following exercise therapy for chronic conditions: an umbrella review.British journal of sports medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Telerehabilitation in the management of urinary incontinence in women: a narrative review.BMC women's health · 2026Pooled it
- The Era of Technology in Healthcare-An Evaluation of Telerehabilitation on Client Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Journal of occupational rehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Telerehabilitation - Historical Perspectives and Conceptual Framework in Reference to Neurological Disorders: A Narrative Review.NeuroRehabilitation · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of telerehabilitation for total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials combined with a bibliometric study.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2024Pooled it
- Exercise-based telerehabilitation for patients with multiple sclerosis using physical activity: a systematic review.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Characteristics and Effects of Home-Based Digital Health Interventions on Functional Outcomes in Older Patients With Hip Fractures After Surgery: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of exercise-based cancer rehabilitation via telehealth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC cancer · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation in Dizziness: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Pooled it
- Physiotherapist-led, exercise-based telerehabilitation for older adults improves patient and health service outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Age and ageing · 2023Pooled it
- The cost-effectiveness of exercise-based cardiac telerehabilitation intervention: a systematic review.European journal of physical and rehabilitation medicine · 2023Pooled it
- Non-Pharmacological Therapies for Post-Viral Syndromes, Including Long COVID: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation Interventions for Self-management of Tinnitus: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Pooled it
- Telerehabilitation intervention after total knee arthroplasty in Iran: a feasibility and acceptability randomised controlled trial.BMJ open · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Effectiveness of face-to-face and web-based exercise programs on health outcomes in early postmenopausal women: a randomized trial.BMC women's health · 2026Trial
- Telemedicine for rotator cuff syndrome: Asynchronous exercise and remote follow-up in a randomized controlled study.PloS one · 2026Trial
- Telerehabilitation versus face-to-face physical therapy for middle-aged patients with degenerative meniscal tear in China: a non-inferiority randomized controlled trial.Journal of rehabilitation medicine · 2025Trial
- Effectiveness of Telerehabilitation Exercise Programme on Disability and Pain in Patients With Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain: Randomised Controlled Trial Assessor-Blinded.Musculoskeletal care · 2025Trial
188 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors at 9 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThe purpose of this article was to summarize the available evidence from systematic reviews on telerehabilitation in physical therapy.
methodsWe searched Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. In addition, the records in PROSPERO and Epistemonikos and PEDro were consulted. Systematic reviews of different conditions, populations, and contexts-where the intervention to be evaluated is telerehabilitation by physical therapy-were included. The outcomes were clinical effectiveness depending on specific condition, functionality, quality of life, satisfaction, adherence, and safety. Data extraction and risk of bias assessment were carried out by a reviewer with non-independent verification by a second reviewer. The findings are reported qualitatively in the tables and figures.
resultsFifty-three systematic reviews were included, of which 17 were assessed as having low risk of bias. Fifteen reviews were on cardiorespiratory rehabilitation, 14 on musculoskeletal conditions, and 13 on neurorehabilitation. The other 11 reviews addressed other types of conditions and rehabilitation. Thirteen reviews evaluated with low risk of bias showed results in favor of telerehabilitation versus in-person rehabilitation or no rehabilitation, while 17 reported no differences between the groups. Thirty-five reviews with unclear or high risk of bias showed mixed results.
conclusionsDespite the contradictory results, telerehabilitation in physical therapy could be comparable with in-person rehabilitation or better than no rehabilitation for conditions such as osteoarthritis, low-back pain, hip and knee replacement, and multiple sclerosis and also in the context of cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation. It is imperative to conduct better quality clinical trials and systematic reviews. IMPACT: Providing the best available evidence on the effectiveness of telerehabilitation to professionals, mainly physical therapists, will impact the decision-making process and therefore yield better clinical outcomes for patients, both in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic and in the future. The identification of research gaps will also contribute to the generation of relevant and novel research questions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.