Technologies in Home-Based Digital Rehabilitation: Scoping Review.
Angela Arntz, Franziska Weber, Marietta Handgraaf and 15 others
PMID 37253381WHAT IT FOUND
Most digital rehab tools are already in use, but many lack proven effectiveness or safety for unsupervised home use.
Clinicians must verify that a technology suits the patient's specific physical and cognitive abilities before recommending it.
Key findings
01The pandemic increased the use of existing digital tools like apps and videoconferencing, but did not lead to the development of new rehabilitation technologies.
02Many technologies, including VR, AR, and robotics, cannot yet be used independently at home due to usability and safety concerns.
03The effectiveness of many digital rehabilitation technologies has not yet been confirmed scientifically, with many solutions implemented rapidly without rigorous evaluation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The review did not weigh the strength of evidence or appraise the efficacy of the approaches, so it cannot tell you if a specific tool works. The search term 'rehabilitation' was used, which may have missed relevant studies on 'therapy' or 'training', particularly for mental health conditions. Bibliometric analysis required keywords to appear at least 10 times, which may have excluded newer or niche technologies. The rapid development of the market means some technologies described may already be outdated or new ones may have emerged since the search period.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the widespread use of these technologies as evidence of their effectiveness. The review explicitly states that it did not appraise efficacy, and many tools lack scientific confirmation for safe, independent home use.