Telerehabilitation in Physical Therapist Practice: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American Physical Therapy Association

Abstract

A clinical practice guideline on telerehabilitation was developed by an American Physical Therapy Association volunteer guideline development group consisting of international physical therapists and physiotherapists, a physician, and a consumer. The guideline was based on systematic reviews of current scientific literature, clinical information, and accepted approaches to telerehabilitation in physical therapist practice. Seven recommendations address the impact of, preparation for, and implementation of telerehabilitation in physical therapist practice. Research recommendations identify current gaps in knowledge. Overall, with shared decision-making between clinicians and patients to inform patients of service delivery options, direct and indirect costs, barriers, and facilitators of telerehabilitation, the evidence supports the use of telerehabilitation by physical therapists for both examination and intervention. The Spanish and Chinese versions of this clinical practice guideline, as well as the French version of the recommendations, are available as supplementary material (Suppl. Materials).

Keywords: Physical Therapist; Telehealth; Telerehabilitation.

Figure 1

Guideline Development Group roster. APTA = American Physical Therapy Association; ECRI = Emergency Care Research Institute.

Figure 2

Study flow diagram. Note: the study flow diagram generated by ECRI in the Supplementary Materials contained an error and was updated. The total number of citations identified by ECRI searches is 5085. CS = clinical study; ECRI = Emergency Care Research Institute; GDG = Guideline Development Group; KQ = key question; RCT = randomized controlled trial; Rec = recommendation; SR = systematic review.