Huang Z, Wu S, Yu T, Hu A, et al.
Advances in wound care. Date of publication 2021 Feb 1;volume 10(2):103-112.
1. Adv Wound Care (New Rochelle). 2021 Feb;10(2):103-112. doi:
10.1089/wound.2020.1169. Epub 2020 May 20.
Efficacy of Telemedicine for Patients with Chronic Wounds: A Meta-Analysis of
Randomized Controlled Trials.
Huang Z(1), Wu S(2), Yu T(3), Hu A(3).
Author information:
(1)School of Nursing, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
(2)The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine,
Guangzhou, China.
(3)Nursing Department, Lingnan Branch of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun
Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Objective: The meta-analysis was performed to summarize the available evidence
and assess the efficacy of telemedicine for patients with chronic wounds.
Approach: PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, China Biology
Medicine (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), WanFang, and VIP
databases were electronically searched to identify eligible studies updated to
February 2020 to collect randomized controlled trials regarding the efficacy of
telemedicine for patients with chronic wounds. Two reviewers independently
screened the literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of
included studies with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of
Interventions. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 and StataSE.
Results: Fourteen studies involving 1,926 patients were included in the
meta-analysis. Compared with usual care, telemedicine intervention significantly
improved wound healing rate (risk ratio [RR] = 1.44, confidence interval [95%
CI] = 1.16-1.80, p = 0.001) and reduced adverse events (RR = 0.52, 95%
CI = 0.34-0.80, p = 0.003). No significant differences were found between
patients allocated to the telemedicine group or usual care group, in terms of the
outcomes of healing time, change in wound size, or mortality. Innovations:
Telemedicine is an effective approach to promote chronic wound healing and reduce
adverse events. Conclusion: The meta-analysis demonstrates that telemedicine may
improve the healing rate and reduce adverse events for patients with chronic
wounds. Because of the limited quality and quantity of the included studies,
rigorous studies with adequate sample sizes are required to conclude with more
confidence.
DOI: 10.1089/wound.2020.1169
PMID: 32320355
