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Review
. 2014 Mar;32(1):136-43.
doi: 10.1590/s0103-05822014000100020.

Telehealth application on the rehabilitation of children and adolescents

Maria Tereza N dos Santos  1 , Sarah Costa D O Moura  2 , Ludmila Mourão X Gomes  3 , Ana Henriques Lima  4 , Rafaela Silva Moreira  5 , Caroline Duarte Silva  1 , Eliane Marina P Guimarães  6
Affiliations
Review

Telehealth application on the rehabilitation of children and adolescents

Maria Tereza N dos Santos et al. Rev Paul Pediatr. 2014 Mar.

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Objective: To systematically review the literature on the telehealth initiatives in telerehabilitation practices in children and adolescents from zero to 18 years old.

Data sources: Randomized and controlled clinical trials published in the past ten years (January 2002 to February 2012) in Medline/PubMed, Medline/BVS, PEDro and Cochrane Library databases. The descriptors "telemedicine", "rehabilitation" and "telehealth" were used in three different languages (English, Portuguese and Spanish).

Data synthesis: From the 20 studies found in the literature, nine were included in this review. Most of the studies showed that telerehabilitation is able to produce better results in the treatment when compared to the traditional methods, providing less frequency of symptoms, better disease control, better quality of life and greater adherence to treatment.

Conclusions: Telerehabilitation is a viable and effective strategy in the treatment of common diseases in children and adolescents. However, there are few studies on the subject in this age group. Although telehealth is already consolidated worldwide, there are no studies in Brazil that used the telerehabilitation in children and adolescents, which reinforces the need for more research and investments.

Objetivo:: Conocer las iniciativas de aplicación de la tele salud en las prácticas de tele-rehabilitación en niños y adolescentes de cero a 18 años, a partir de revisión sistemática de la literatura.

Fuentes de datos: : Ensayos clínicos controlados y aleatorios publicados los últimos diez años (enero de 2002 a febrero de 2012) en las bases Medline/PubMed, Medline/BVS, PEDro y Biblioteca Cochrane. Los descriptores "telemedicina", "rehabilitación" y tele salud fueron utilizados en tres distintos idiomas (portugués, inglés y español).

Síntesis de los datos:: De los 20 estudios encontrados en la literatura, nueve fueron incluidos en esta revisión. La mayoría de los estudios demostró que la tele-rehabilitación es capaz de producir mejores resultados en el tratamiento cuando comparada a los métodos de rehabilitación tradicionales, proporcionando reducción en la ocurrencia de síntomas, mejora en la calidad de vida, mayor control de las enfermedades y mayor adhesión al tratamiento.

Conclusiones:: La tele-rehabilitación es una estrategia viable y efectiva en el tratamiento de patologías frecuentes en niños y adolescentes. Sin embargo, hay pocos estudios sobre el uso de la tele-rehabilitación en esa franja de edad. Aunque la salud ya esté consolidada en nivel mundial, no se localizaron estudios realizados en Brasil que utilizaran la tele-rehabilitación en niños y adolescentes, lo que refuerza la necesidad de mayor número de investigaciones e inversiones.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflito de interesse: nada a declarar

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Flow chart of the different phases of the systematic review
Figura 1
Figura 1. Fluxograma das diferentes fases da revisão sistemática
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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