An Investigation Into the Use of mHealth in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy: Scoping Review.
Jonathon M R Agnew, Catherine E Hanratty, Joseph G McVeigh and 2 others
PMID 35275089WHAT IT FOUND
Phone or video contact with the physiotherapist was the most accepted mHealth use and may help patients keep exercising.
Evidence that mHealth improves pain or function is limited and inconsistent, so do not assume an app alone replaces physiotherapy.
Key findings
01Patients reported high satisfaction and valued interactive features and readily available support.
02Many studies did not describe the mHealth intervention well enough to reproduce it.
03Outcomes across the included studies were mixed, with some reporting improvement and others reporting no significant difference.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Only English-language articles were included, so relevant work from non-English-speaking countries may have been missed. The review did not include a consultation stage and did not contact study authors for missing information. Scoping reviews did not include a strong quality assessment of papers, so the included studies cannot be weighted as easily as in a systematic review. Many studies did not describe the mHealth intervention well enough to reproduce it. Only 1 of 28 studies specifically explored clinicians' experience of using mHealth. The 28 studies varied widely in design, condition, intervention, and outcome.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as evidence that an mHealth app alone improves musculoskeletal pain or function. The review found limited and mixed evidence, many interventions were not reproducible, and the most accepted form of mHealth was clinician contact by phone or video as an adjunct to usual physiotherapy.