Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39340733›Full record

SynthesisJournal of occupational rehabilitation2025

The Era of Technology in Healthcare-An Evaluation of Telerehabilitation on Client Outcomes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Sharan Jaswal, Joyce Lo, Aaron Howe, Yifan Hao, Shangkai Zhu, Gobika Sithamparanathan, Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia

Abstract readSystematic ReviewMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
  7. Review
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

7 authors.

Sharan JaswalDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6736-3146
Joyce LoDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8609-2097
Aaron HoweDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Yifan HaoDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Shangkai ZhuDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Gobika SithamparanathanDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4314-6782
Behdin Nowrouzi-KiaDepartment of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 160-500 University Ave, Toronto, ON, Canada. behdin.nowrouzi.kia@utoronto.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5586-4282

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThis systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize the evidence and examine the effect of telerehabilitation interventions compared to face-to-face rehabilitation interventions on physical functioning, mental health, and pain reduction among employed individuals, 18 years old and older.

methodsFollowing the Preferred Reporting Items of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, a comprehensive search syntax was created and inputted into Ovid Medline, APA PsycINFO, Ovid Embase, CINAHL, and Scopus. Critical appraisal of the included studies was conducted by two researchers to assess the risk of bias. A meta-analysis was completed for the randomized controlled trials and GRADE was used to determine the certainty of the evidence.

resultsA total of 16 out of 4319 articles were included in this review. This systematic review and meta-analysis found no significant differences between telerehabilitation interventions for physical functioning, mental health, and pain reduction outcomes compared to traditional rehabilitation interventions.

conclusionThe study findings indicate that telerehabilitation is less effective than in-person care for occupational therapy and physical therapy services. Future research may look at addressing the limitations of the current study to produce more conclusive results, such as exploring the length of the intervention, knowledge and confidence of intervention application, and follow-ups. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: This systematic review has been registered with PROSPERO under registration number CRD42022297849 on April 8th, 2022.

Indexed as

Occupational TherapyTelerehabilitationHumansMental HealthHealth outcomesOccupational therapyPhysical therapyRehabilitationTelehealthTelerehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID39340733
PMCPMC12575596

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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.