Role of tele-rehabilitation in patients following total hip replacement: systematic review of clinical trials

Objective: Rehabilitation is considered vital aspect of treatment strategy post total hip replacement and results in improvement in functional activities as well as reduction in pain. Telerehabilitation is emerging as alternative to traditional face to face rehabilitation in home care. To explore the current evidence on effectiveness of telerehabilitation as compared to face to face rehabilitation for patients after total hip replacement. Methodology: A systematic review was conducted. Data bases were searched including Cochrane, Medline, Embase and PEDro from 2000 to latest. A thorough search was performed to retrieve articles missed through databases as well as unpublished grey literature. Methodological quality assessment was performed using Cochrane risk of bias tool and included studies were critically appraised using PEDro scale. Results: 13 articles finally met the inclusion criteria and were included in the review based on eligibility. However data was not extractable from 1 study due to which 12 studies were finally reviewed. There were 4 Randomized trials, 3 randomized controlled protocols, 3 randomized pilot studies and 1 prospective cohort study. The summary of critical appraisal of included studies through Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale was done which showed that majority of studies had high quality and few studies fall under the category of fair. Conclusion: Telerehabilitation group reported similar improvement in terms of activities of daily living and quality of life as compared to traditional rehabilitation. This systematic review has established that home based telerehabilitation mode of health care services delivery is an acceptable practical alternative among patients who underwent Continuous...