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. 2023 May;5(5):e316-e327.
doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(23)00049-3.

Digital health and telehealth in cancer care: a scoping review of reviews

Kelly M Shaffer  1 , Kea L Turner  2 , Chelsea Siwik  3 , Brian D Gonzalez  2 , Rujula Upasani  4 , Jillian V Glazer  4 , Robert J Ferguson  5 , Catherine Joshua  4 , Carissa A Low  5
Affiliations

Digital health and telehealth in cancer care: a scoping review of reviews

Kelly M Shaffer et al. Lancet Digit Health. 2023 May.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated remote cancer care delivery via the internet and telephone, rapidly accelerating an already growing care delivery model and associated research. This scoping review of reviews characterised the peer-reviewed literature reviews on digital health and telehealth interventions in cancer published from database inception up to May 1, 2022, from PubMed, Cumulated Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Cochrane Reviews, and Web of Science. Eligible reviews conducted a systematic literature search. Data were extracted in duplicate via a pre-defined online survey. Following screening, 134 reviews met the eligibility criteria. 77 of those reviews were published since 2020. 128 reviews summarised interventions intended for patients, 18 addressed family caregivers, and five addressed health-care providers. 56 reviews did not target a specific phase of the cancer continuum, whereas 48 reviews tended to address the active treatment phase. 29 reviews included a meta-analysis, with results showing positive effects on quality of life, psychological outcomes, and screening behaviours. 83 reviews did not report intervention implementation outcomes but when reported, 36 reported acceptability, 32 feasibility, and 29 fidelity outcomes. Several notable gaps were identified in these literature reviews on digital health and telehealth in cancer care. No reviews specifically addressed older adults, bereavement, or sustainability of interventions and only two reviews focused on comparing telehealth to in-person interventions. Addressing these gaps with rigorous systematic reviews might help guide continued innovation in remote cancer care, particularly for older adults and bereaved families, and integrate and sustain these interventions within oncology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests BDG reports fees unrelated to this work from Sure Med Compliance and Elly Health, and was supported in part by a National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant supporting the Population Research, Interventions, and Measurements Core at Moffitt Cancer Center (P30 CA076292). CS was supported by a National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health T32 Fellowship (5T32AT003997-13). RJF and CAL were supported by the National Cancer Institute Cancer Center Support Grant (P30CA047904). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health. All other authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Framework of the scoping review
Figure 2
Figure 2
PRISMA flowchart
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of reviews published per year on digital health and telehealth in cancer
Figure 4
Figure 4
Evidence map illustrating frequencies of reviews by individual targeted by intervention across the cancer care continuum
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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