Cited by 219Telemedicine and Telehealth ImplementationMedical Practices and RehabilitationTechnology Use by Older Adults

Effects of telehealth by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Open access
Speyer, R, Denman, D, Wilkes-Gillan, S, Chen, Y, Bogaardt, H, Kim, J, Heckathorn, D, Cordier, R·2018·Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe telehealth interventions delivered by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas, and to compare the effects of telehealth interventions with standard face-to-face interventions. DATA SOURCES: CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and PubMed databases were searched. The content of relevant journals and published articles were also searched. STUDY SELECTION: Studies examining the effectiveness of allied health and nursing telehealth interventions for rural and remote populations were included in descriptive analyses. Studies comparing telehealth intervention with standard face-to-face interventions grouped by type of intervention approach were used to examine between-groups effect sizes. DATA EXTRACTION: Methodological quality of studies was rated using the QualSyst critical appraisal tool and the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Evidence Hierarchy levels. DATA SYNTHESIS: After quality ratings, 43 studies were included. A majority of studies had strong methodological quality. The disciplines of psychology and nursing were represented most frequently, as were studies using a cognitive intervention approach. Meta-analysis results slightly favoured telehealth interventions compared with face-to-face interventions, but did not show significant differences. Interventions using a combined physical and cognitive approach appeared to be more effective. CONCLUSION: Telehealth services may be as effective as face-to-face interventions, which is encouraging given the potential benefits of telehealth in rural and remote areas with regards to healthcare access and time and cost savings.

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  • Remote monitoring, video and telephone consultations delivered by allied health professionals to patients in rural areas were at least as effective as face-to-face interventions.

    “Remote monitoring, video and telephone consultations delivered by allied health professionals to patients in rural areas were at least as effective as face-to-face interventions [59].”

    From Telemedicine in the OECD: An umbrella review of clinical and cost-effectiveness, patient experience and implementation (2020) · cites this paper as [59]

    The Discussion (page unavailable) reports that the meta-analysis found telehealth interventions were not less effective than face-to-face treatment in rural and remote areas. The Conclusion (page unavailable) qualifies this as 'may be as effective' and cautions that outcomes were heterogeneous. The copy does not establish that remote monitoring, video consultations, and telephone consultations each met that comparison, so the claim is more definite and modality-specific than the review supports. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • The sole review that did not focus on a specialty described the effect of telemedicine interventions delivered by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas.

    “The sole review that didn’t focus on a speciality described the effect of telemedicine interventions delivered by allied health professionals and nurses in rural and remote areas [8].”
  • A nurse-led telecoaching study for rural patients was successful and cost-effective in T2DM management.

    “A nurse-led telecoaching study for rural patients was successful and cost-effective in T2DM management [73-80].”
  • Telehealth offers patients the possibility of collecting and monitoring, in real-time, a set of data specific to their health or diseases without physical presence and direct intervention of health professionals.

    “Studies have shown that telehealth offers patients the possibility of collecting and monitoring, in real-time, a set of data specific to their health or their diseases without the physical presence and direct intervention of health professionals [15,16].”
  • For healthcare professionals, easier access to relevant information enables them to be better equipped during medical consultations and patient follow-up, supports decision-making, and improves exchanges and communication with patients.

    “For healthcare professionals, easier access to relevant information enables them to be better equipped during medical consultations and patient follow-up, supports them in decision-making and improves the exchanges and communication with patients [14,15,16,17,18,19].”

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Cites

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Authors
Speyer, R., Denman, D., Wilkes-Gillan, S., Chen, Y., Bogaardt, H., Kim, J., Heckathorn, D., & Cordier, R.
Affiliations
  • Curtin University (AU)
  • University of Oslo (NO)
  • The University of Sydney (AU)
  • Leiden University Medical Center (NL)
Corresponding author
Speyer, R
Venue
Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine
Published
2018
Volume
50
Issue
3
Pages
225-235
ISSN
1650-1977 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2777885129
Cited by
219
References
79
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 14 · 2024: 24 · 2023: 39 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 34 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 2
FWCI
2.44
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • ResearchOnline at James Cook University (James Cook University) (submittedVersion)
  • Northumbria Research Link (Northumbria University) (submittedVersion)
  • Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) (submittedVersion)
  • Leiden Repository (Leiden University) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • eSpace (Curtin University) (submittedVersion)
  • NORA - Norwegian Open Research Archives (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Medical Practices and Rehabilitation
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Technology Use by Older Adults
Keywords
telemedicine, allied health professionals, nurses, rural and remote health, face-to-face intervention, intervention effectiveness, cognitive intervention, health care access, rehabilitation
MeSH terms
Allied Health Personnel, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Rural Population, Treatment Outcome, Telemedicine

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