SynthesisPloS one2022
Real-time remote outpatient consultations in secondary and tertiary care: A systematic review of inequalities in invitation and uptake.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of virtual appointments on referral-to-appointment times for type 2 diabetes patients in Northwest London.npj health systems · 2026Article
- Remote consultations in mental health: collaborative evaluation applying learning health systems thinking.BJPsych bulletin · 2025Article
- Attendance at remote versus in-person outpatient appointments in an NHS Trust.Journal of telemedicine and telecare · 2025Observational
- How, when and why is emotional support delivered using videoconferencing by adult palliative care services successful? A realist synthesis.Palliative care and social practice · 2025Review
- Psychomotor and non-motor correlates of cognition in spinocerebellar ataxias Types 1, 2, 3, and 6.Brain communications · 2025Article
- Quality of the digital gp visits and characteristics of the users: retrospective observational study.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2024Observational
- Impact of virtual consultations on quality of care in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and narrative synthesis protocol.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Optimising digital clinical consultations in maternity care: a realist review and implementation principles.BMJ open · 2024Review
- Evolving migraine management: Lithuania's telemedicine experience.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Article
- Clinician perceptions of the impact of ICU family visiting restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic: an international investigation.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Article
- Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundHealth policies in most high income countries increasingly recommend provision of routine outpatient care via remote (video and/or telephone) appointments, especially due to the pandemic. This is thought to improve access to care and promote efficiency within resource-constrained health services. There is limited evidence about the impact on existing inequalities in the invitation and uptake of health services when remote outpatient care is offered.
aimTo systematically review the evidence on the offer and/or uptake of real-time remote outpatient consultations in secondary and tertiary care, assessed according to key sociodemographic characteristics.
methodsSeven electronic bibliographic databases were searched for studies reporting the proportion of patients with key characteristics (following PROGRESS Plus criteria) who were offered and/or accepted real-time remote outpatient consultation for any chronic condition. Comparison groups included usual care (face-to-face), another intervention, or offer/uptake within a comparable time period. Study processes were undertaken in duplicate. Data are reported narratively.
resultsTwenty-nine studies were included. Uptake of video consultations ranged from 5% to 78% and telephone consultations from 12% to 78%. Patients aged over 65, with lower educational attainment, on lower household incomes and without English as a first language were least likely to have a remote consultation. Females were generally more likely to have remote consultations than males. Non-white ethnicities were less likely to use remote consultations but where they did, were significantly more likely to choose telephone over video appointments (p<0.001).
conclusionsOffering remote consultations may perpetuate or exacerbate existing health inequalities in access to healthcare. More research is needed on current health disparities by sociodemographic characteristics and to explore what works well for different patient groups and why so that processes can be designed to ameliorate these health disparities.
trial registrationPROSPERO registration no: CRD42021241791.
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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.