The Implementation of Tele-Health Physiotherapy Services for Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

It is obvious how the COVID-19 pandemic changed the whole aspects of our lives in the recent period. The health services are one of the most affected services during this pandemic. However, these services are vital and cannot be over missed in any context or situation. One of the most recent terms or services which has been used to overcome the challenges of the current pandemic is the " Tele-Health' or "Tele- Medicine" or "Tele-Rehabilitation" which refer in all cases to the using of technology such as video calls or smart applications to provide the health care services to the patients distally. The main goal of the current systematic review is to study the implementation of the Tele-health services in physiotherapy specifically for the musculoskeletal cases in terms of its effectiveness, challenges and barriers, and the implementation guidelines. Review of 32 articles from different databases (Springer, Scopus, and PMC) in the last ten years period (2011-2021) revealed that this topic is dramatically increased in the literature last year with the rise of COVID-19 pandemic. The current review is showing the methodology, theories, results, in addition to the details of countries and journals in which the articles were published. The current study could help in providing the guidelines to implement the Tele-health services in physiotherapy for musculoskeletal conditions, with concentrating on the effectiveness and challenges.