Tele-mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review of the literature focused on technical aspects and challenges.

Introduction: Mental disorders are the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death worldwide, which leads to the death of more than 9 million people annually. The global impact of the Coronavirus epidemic on mental health includes insomnia, anxiety, and depression. Therefore, given the current situation, innovations such as telemedicine to provide prevention and treatment services for people with mental disorders seem necessary. Methods: A literature review was performed according to the preferred items to report in systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA). Covering a period from January 2020 to July 2023, we conducted a systematic literature search on five electronic databases (PubMed-Mesh, Scopus, Web of Science, Science direct, and PsycInfo). The search strategy included three categories of keywords: Mental health, Tele, COVID-19. Results: A total of 112 articles were identified by searching the databases of published articles, 13 articles met our inclusion criteria. A total of 76.2% of them were related to patients with stress, anxiety, and depression issues. We found that the real-time method has been the most common method used to communicate between the physician and the patient (92.3%). The communication technologies used also included telephone, video call, video conference, and E-mail. During these communications, data was exchanged in text, voice, and video formats. In three studies (27%), interoperability with other systems was mentioned. In addition, 69.2% of the studies reported challenges, the most important of which were access to electronic and communication devices, network connection problems, audio and video problems, and privacy issues. Conclusions: Considering the many advantages of telemedicine technology in the field of mental health, the need to use this technology in developing countries, including our country, is obvious. But the application of these technologies requires the investigation of technical aspects and challenges related to them as much as possible, which have been seen in few studies.

Technical aspects of virtual augmented reality-based rehabilitation systems for musculoskeletal disorders of the lower limbs: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Musculoskeletal disorders are one of the most common causes of physical disability. The rehabilitation process after musculoskeletal disorders is long and tedious, and patients are not motivated to follow rehabilitation protocols. Therefore, new systems must be used to increase patient motivation. Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies can be used in this regard. In developing such systems, various technologies and methods of movement recognition are used; therefore, this study aims to summarize the technical aspects of using VR/AR in rehabilitation and evaluate and discuss efficient methods of investigating studies using the Statement of Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI). METHODS: Search in four scientific databases was done systematically based on PRISMA through online search engines from inception to June 2021. These databases include Medline (PubMed), Scopus, IEEE, and Web of Science. An updated search was also conducted on 17 December 2021. The research used keywords and MeSH terms associated with VR/AR, musculoskeletal disorder, and rehabilitation. Selected articles were evaluated qualitatively using the Standards for Reporting Implementation Studies (StaRI) statement. RESULTS: A total of 2343 articles were found, and 20 studies were included. We found that 11 (55%) studies used Kinect technology as input tools, and 15 (75%) studies have described the techniques used to analyze human movements, such as dynamic time warping (DTW) and support vector machines (SVM). In 10 (50%) studies, the Unity game engine was used for visualization. In 8 studies (40%), usability was assessed, and high usability was reported. Similarly, the results of the review of studies according to the StaRI checklist showed poor reporting in the title and discussion of the studies. CONCLUSIONS: We found that academic studies did not describe the technical aspects of rehabilitation systems. Therefore, a good description of the technical aspects of the system in such studies should be considered to provide repeatability and generalizability of these systems for investigations by other researchers.

Impact of Educational Interventions on Knowledge About Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Among Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review.

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), including chronic hypertension, preeclampsia and gestational hypertension, is the cause of about 50,000 deaths out of 400,000 perinatal deaths. HDP is an effective risk factor in stroke, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases like ischemic heart disease. There is a significant relation between HDP, lifestyle, and knowledge. Unfortunately, many studies showed that pregnant women have lack of knowledge about HDP. Therefore, the importance of educational interventions is, today, more acknowledged than before. Aim: The goal of this systematic review was to investigate the effect of interventional educations on the knowledge of pregnant women about HDP. Methods: A systematic review of the related articles was conducted. We included English randomized controlled trials published up to December 2021, including pregnant women as population, HDP as the outcome, and educational interventions as the intervention. Results: After the process of study selection, six articles containing 819 pregnant women were included in this study. Educational pamphlets, mobile-based application, a mixture of pamphlets, pictographic magnet and videos, and a combination of PowerPoint and data show projectors and conversation were the educational interventions in these studies. Conclusions: The positive effects of educational interventions on the knowledge of women with HTP were observed in all studies. The higher knowledge leads to HDP-related complications. Systematic Review Registration: https://archive.org/details/osf-registrations-gcs5r-v1, identifier: doi: 10.17605/OSF.IO/GCS5R.

Evaluation of m-Health-rehabilitation for respiratory disorders: A systematic review.

Background and Aims: Chronic respiratory diseases are prominent causes of morbidity worldwide that impose significant social and economic burdens on individuals and communities. Pulmonary rehabilitation is one of the main aspects of medical rehabilitation. Nowadays, mobile health apps deliver pulmonary rehabilitation support via smartphones. This article presents a systematic review of the literature on m-Health apps used in respiration disorders rehabilitation. Methods: A systematic search was performed on MEDLINE (through PubMed), Web of Science, and Scopus in May 2021 without any date limitation. This study was using a combination of keywords and MeSH terms associated with pulmonary rehabilitation. Relevant studies were selected by two independents and were categorized studies results. The inclusion criterion was m-Health apps for pulmonary rehabilitation and exclusion criteria mobile-based interventions, by voice call or short message service and cardiopulmonary articles. Results: Searching scientific databases yielded 161 relevant articles. Then, 27 articles were included in the study with a complete evaluation of the articles. Sixty percent of them were related to patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Rehabilitation aiming to improve the quality of life, promote self-management, encourage physical activity, and reduce the symptoms as the most common goals of pulmonary rehabilitation using m-Health apps; 89% of these studies showed that m-Health apps can be effective in improving pulmonary rehabilitation. In addition, 37% of studies reported high usability and acceptance. However, the results of some studies show that adherence to apps decreases in the long run. Conclusion: Our study shows that m-Health pulmonary rehabilitation apps are effective in improving the quality of life, self-management, and physical activity. According to the results, it seems that using the m-Health apps for pulmonary rehabilitation can be useful in the COVID-19 pandemic and help reduce respiratory disorders in patients with COVID-19 disease.

Effectiveness of mobile health-based self-management application for posttransplant cares: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Patients after transplantation need medical management for the rest of their lives, and self-management seems to lead to greater adherence to medical standards, improve early physical changes, and increase patient empowerment. The main objective of this article is to systematic review of the consideration to mobile health applications (m-Health apps) used in transplantation. METHODS: A systematic search was conducted MEDLINE (through PubMed), Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct from inception to November 2020. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement was used in this study. Comprehensive research was carried out using a combination of keywords and MeSH terms associated with m-Health, empowerment, self-management, and transplantation. Two independent reviewers screened titles and abstracts, assessed full-text articles, and extracted data from articles that met inclusion criteria. Eligible studies were original research articles that included posttransplant care and mobile phone-based applications to support self-management and self-care. Also, thesis, book chapters, letters to editors, short briefs, reports, technical reports, book reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analysis were excluded. RESULTS: We divided all the reviewed articles into four categories, self-management (medication adherence, adherence to medical regimen, and remote monitoring), evaluation, interaction, and interface; 37.5% of the studies were focused on lung transplantation. In 56.25% of the studies, medication adherence was considered because one of the main reasons for the rejection and graft loss is stated medication nonadherence. Also, 62.5% of the studies demonstrated that the use of m-health improved medication adherence and self-management in transplantation. CONCLUSIONS: The use of m-Health apps interventions to self-management after transplantation has shown promising feasibility and acceptability, and there is modest evidence to support the efficacy of these interventions. We found that m-Health solutions can help the patient in self-management in many ways after transplantation.