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. 2024 Aug;30(7):1077-1096.
doi: 10.1177/1357633X231158140. Epub 2023 Mar 7.

Videoconferencing interventions and COPD patient outcomes: A systematic review

Meghan Bowman  1 , Matthew Jalink  1   2 , Isobel Sharpe  1 , Siddhartha Srivastava  2 , Don Thiwanka Wijeratne  1   2
Affiliations

Videoconferencing interventions and COPD patient outcomes: A systematic review

Meghan Bowman et al. J Telemed Telecare. 2024 Aug.

Abstract

Introduction: Videoconferencing circumvents various physical and financial barriers associated with in-person care. Given this technology's potential benefits and timely nature, we conducted a systematic review to understand how videoconferencing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) follow-up care affects patient-related outcomes.

Methods: We included primary research evaluating the use of bidirectional videoconferencing for COPD patient follow-up. The outcomes of interest were resource utilization, mortality, lifestyle factors, patient satisfaction, barriers, and feasibility. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, EBM Reviews, and CINAHL databases for articles published from January 1, 2010, to August 2, 2021. Relevant information was extracted and presented descriptively and common themes and patterns were identified. The risk of bias for each study was assessed using design-specific validated tools.

Results: We included 39 studies of 18,194 patients (22 quantitative, 12 qualitative, and 5 mixed methods). The included studies were grouped by type of intervention; 18 studies explored videoconferencing for exercise, 19 explored videoconferencing for clinical assessment/monitoring, and 2 examined videoconferencing for education. Generally, videoconferencing was associated with high levels of patient satisfaction. There were mixed results in terms of its effects on resource utilization and lifestyle-related factors. Additionally, 12 studies were at high risk of bias, indicating that these results should be interpreted with caution.

Conclusions: The videoconferencing interventions resulted in high levels of patient satisfaction, despite facing technological issues. Overall, more research is needed to better understand the effects of videoconferencing interventions on resource utilization and other patient outcomes, quantifying their advantages over in-person care.

Keywords: COPD; ehealth; remote consultation; systematic review; telecare; teleconsulting; telehealth.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) flow diagram.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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