RESUMO
BACKGROUND:With the development of science and technology and improvement in living quality, telemedicine has played an important role in daily life, in particular in disease diagnosis and treatment as wel as rescue process for elderly people. OBJECTIVE: Based on Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov databases, to analyze the international telemedicine and elderly disease development so as to provide referential basis for the related study in China. METHODS: An online retrieval of Web of Science and ClinicalTrials.gov databases was performed with the key words “telemedicine” and “geriatric diseases” for papers regarding telemedicine for geriatric diseases published from 2003 to 2013. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) 239 papers regarding telemedicine for geriatric diseases were retrieved in Web of Science from 2003 to 2013. As per distribution by country for publications, USA published the highest number of papers (n=93, 38.912%). As per distribution by institute for publications (2003-2013), University of Washington was most prolific, folowed by Columbia University, The University of Queensland and The University of Western Australia (Australia). Among the included journals,Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare published the greatest number of papers (n=20, 8.368%). The number of included papers gradualy increased over the 10-year study period. Among these 239 papers, only 4 of them were from China, indicating that Chinese scholars paid relatively little attention in this research field, and the number and quality of Chinese papers on telemedicine for geriatric diseases need to be improved. (2) 18 studies regarding telemedicine for geriatric diseases were registered in ClinicalTrials.gov database from 2003 to 2013. Interventional studies (n=15) accounted for the largest proportion, folowed by observational studies.
