pharmaphorum April 20, 2022
A meta-analysis of published studies looking at web-, app- or telehealth-based therapy for osteoarthritis has concluded that they outperform standard approaches to care.
The study – published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage – focused on patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, and compared the digitally-delivered exercises to standard approaches such as in-person physiotherapy, other forms of care, waitlisting and patient education.
Medical guidance for knee and hip osteoarthritis is generally that first-line treatment should include disease information and a long-term exercise programme aimed to limiting pain and preserving joint function.
However, this is often underused, in part because of access to therapists, and in recent years more emphasis has been given to remote exercise therapy using digital...