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Cited by 128Telemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationAsthma and respiratory diseasesMobile Health and mHealth Applications

Telehealthcare for asthma: a Cochrane review

Open access
McLean, S., Chandler, D., Nurmatov, U., Liu, J., Pagliari, C., Car, J., Sheikh, A.·2011·Canadian Medical Association Journal
DOI 10.1503/cmaj.101146PMC PMC3153544
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Telehealthcare has the potential to provide care for long-term conditions that are increasingly prevalent, such as asthma. We conducted a systematic review of studies of telehealthcare interventions used for the treatment of asthma to determine whether such approaches to care are effective. METHODS: We searched the Cochrane Airways Group Specialised Register of Trials, which is derived from systematic searches of bibliographic databases including CENTRAL (the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature) and PsycINFO, as well as other electronic resources. We also searched registers of ongoing and unpublished trials. We were interested in studies that measured the following outcomes: quality of life, number of visits to the emergency department and number of admissions to hospital. Two reviewers identified studies for inclusion in our meta-analysis. We extracted data and used fixedeffect modelling for the meta-analyses. RESULTS: We identified 21 randomized controlled trials for inclusion in our analysis. The methods of telehealthcare intervention these studies investigated were the telephone and video- and Internet-based models of care. Meta-analysis did not show a clinically important improvement in patients' quality of life, and there was no significant change in the number of visits to the emergency department over 12 months. There was a significant reduction in the number of patients admitted to hospital once or more over 12 months (risk ratio 0.25 [95% confidence interval 0.09 to 0.66]). INTERPRETATION: We found no evidence of a clinically important impact on patients' quality of life, but telehealthcare interventions do appear to have the potential to reduce the risk of admission to hospital, particularly for patients with severe asthma. Further research is required to clarify the cost-effectiveness of models of care based on telehealthcare.

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Crossref · 10.1503/cmaj.101146

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  • In asthma there was significant reduction in hospitalisations over a 12 month period across four studies with a variety of telehealthcare interventions (risk ratio 0.3, 95% C.I. 0.09 to 0.7).

    “In asthma there was significant reduction in hospitalisations over a 12 month period across four studies with a variety of telehealthcare interventions, including web-based diary and interaction with professionals, telephone calls from a nurse educator, telemonitoring with oversight for severe asthma and electronic diary with email or telephone follow up from a physician (risk ratio of 0.3 (95% C.”

    From The Impact of Telehealthcare on the Quality and Safety of Care: A Systematic Overview (2013) · cites this paper as [62]

  • There were no improvements in pooled quality of life in asthma with telehealthcare (mean difference 0.1, 95% C.I. 0.001 to 0.2), and none of the pooled nine studies individually measured a significant improvement.

    “There were no improvements in pooled quality of life in asthma with telehealthcare [62]: (mean difference 0.1, 95% C.I. 0.001 to 0.2) and none of the pooled nine studies individually measured a significant improvement in quality of life either.”

    From The Impact of Telehealthcare on the Quality and Safety of Care: A Systematic Overview (2013) · cites this paper as [62]

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Related

Authors
McLean, S., Chandler, D., Nurmatov, U., Liu, J., Pagliari, C., Car, J., & Sheikh, A.
Affiliations
University of Edinburgh (GB)
ORCID
Venue
Canadian Medical Association Journal
Publisher
CMA Joule Inc.
Published
2011-07-11
Volume
183
Issue
11
Pages
E733-E742
ISSN
  • 0820-3946 (ISSN-L)
  • 1488-2329
DOI
10.1503/cmaj.101146
PMC
PMC3153544
OpenAlex
W2160134948
Cited by
128
References
54
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 14
FWCI
1.53
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Canadian Medical Association Journal (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • Discovery Research Portal (University of Dundee) (publishedVersion)
  • ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) (submittedVersion)
  • Edinburgh Research Explorer (University of Edinburgh) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Research Publications (Maastricht University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Asthma and respiratory diseases
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
Keywords
telemedicine, asthma, telephone care, hospitalization, emergency department visits, quality of life, severe asthma, chronic disease, cost-effectiveness
MeSH terms
Asthma, Emergency Service, Hospital, Humans, Patient Admission, Patient Readmission, Quality of Life, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Telemedicine

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