Telemedicine in Southeast Asia: A Systematic Review.
Telemed J E Health
; 2022 Apr 12.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1788463
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
Telemedicine is an effective means of delivering health care in Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. This systematic review explored the use of telemedicine systems for delivering health care services in SEA countries during the past 10 years.Methods:
Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Medline, Global Health, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials). The inclusion criteria were as follows (1) studies published between 2010 and 2021; (2) study settings located in SEA countries; (3) articles published in English; and (4) availability of a full-text version of the article. Information was extracted and evaluated for each study based on quality and risk of bias.Results:
Thirty-seven of 6,554 records were eligible for inclusion. Studies included based on percentage were descriptive (29.73%), cost-effective (8.11%), randomized controlled trials (5.41%), and mixed methods (2.7%). Teleophthalmology and teleconsultation were the major reasons for using telemedicine, representing 21.62% of all studies. A hub-and-spoke and store-and-forward models were used. Free messenger applications supported communication modalities in or out of the systems.Discussion:
The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic increased research studies on telemedicine, with most studies occurring in Singaporean hospitals (49%). Descriptive studies predominated, followed by retrospective and cross-sectional studies.Conclusions:
Our findings demonstrated that telemedicine was a powerful tool. It is feasible, safe, effective, and less expensive than traditional methods. However, robust research is needed to fully investigate telemedicine systems in SEA countries.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Language:
English
Journal subject:
Medical Informatics
/
Health Services
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Tmj.2021.0516
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