Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37264401›Full record

ArticleBMC health services research2023

Telehealth services for global emergencies: implications for COVID-19: a scoping review based on current evidence.

Jonathan Kissi, Caleb Annobil, Nathan Kumasenu Mensah, Joseph Owusu-Marfo, Ernest Osei, Zenobia Wooduwa Asmah

Open access · goldAbstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.7field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 23 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Jonathan KissiSchool of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Health Information Management. University Post Office, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana. jonathan.kissi@ucc.edu.gh.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2942-5654
Caleb AnnobilSchool of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Health Information Management. University Post Office, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Nathan Kumasenu MensahSchool of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Health Information Management. University Post Office, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
Joseph Owusu-MarfoDepartment of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Disease Control, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Ernest OseiFaculty of Health and Allied Health, Department of Public Health, Catholic University College of Ghana, Sunyani, Ghana.
Zenobia Wooduwa AsmahSchool of Allied Health Sciences, Department of Health Information Management. University Post Office, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana.
University of Cape Coast · GHCatholic University College of Ghana · GHUniversity for Development Studies · GH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe availability of low-cost computing and digital telecommunication in the 1980s made telehealth practicable. Telehealth has the capacity to improve healthcare access and outcomes for patients while reducing healthcare costs across a wide range of health conditions and situations.

objectiveThis study compares the adoption, advantages, and challenges of telehealth services between high-income (HICs) and low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

methodsPreferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. The key search terms were: "Telehealth", "Telehealth in HICs", "Telehealth in LMICs", "Telehealth before COVID-19", "Telehealth during COVID-19". We searched exhaustively ProQuest, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, and EMBASE databases from 2012. Booleans OR/AND were combined with key search terms to increase relevant search results. The literature search and selection process followed the Sample, Phenomena of Interest, Design, Evaluation, and Research (SPIDER) question format.

resultsThe adoption of telehealth before COVID-19 was generally low in both HICs and LMICs. The impact of COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of telehealth at the facility level but not nationwide in both high-income countries and LMICs. The rapid adoption of telehealth at the facility level in both high-income and LMICs introduced several challenges that are unique to each country and need to be addressed.

conclusionThe lack of national policies and regulations is making the adoption of telehealth at the national level challenging in both high and low-middle-income countries. Governments and Stakeholders of healthcare must consider telehealth as a healthcare procedure that should be deployed in clinical working procedures. Primary quantitative and qualitative studies must be conducted to address challenges encountered during the pilot implementation of telehealth services in both high-income countries and LMICs before and during pandemics.

Indexed as

COVID-19Developing CountriesEmergenciesHealth Services AccessibilityHumansPandemicsCOVID-19High-income and low-and-middle-income countriesPandemicsTelecommunicationsTelehealth services

Identifiers

PMID37264401
PMCPMC10234579
OpenAlexW4379057103

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.