The Use of Telerehabilitation Across Rehabilitation Services in Saudi Arabia: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Telerehabilitation is a way to provide remote rehabilitation services to people who are in need in various regions of Saudi Arabia. This review aimed to explore the status of telerehabilitation services in Saudi Arabia. Six databases (PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Google Scholar) were searched. Studies that reported data on telerehabilitation services (Physiotherapy, Occupational, and Speech-language therapy and Prosthetics and orthotic) in Saudi Arabia were eligible for inclusion. Abstracts, non-human studies, reviews, case reports, and studies that aim to develop or validate outcome measures for telerehabilitation were excluded. Three hundred seventy-nine references were identified, of which 21 met eligibility criteria – including a total of (n=3796) participants from diverse groups (healthy participants, patients, and healthcare providers). A number of studies provided data on the effectiveness of telerehabilitation in specific conditions (stuttering, musculoskeletal, and vestibular conditions). 46% of clinicians reported awareness of telerehabilitation, but 19.9% of them used telerehabilitation. Patients reported 82% satisfaction, with 62.5% favouring a mix model of care. Clinical efficacy includes a 14.22% improvement in 6-minute walk test scores for pulmonary rehabilitation (p = 0.001), 36% pain reduction in musculoskeletal rehabilitation (p < 0.001), and 89% reliability in pediatric stuttering evaluation. This review showed that telerehabilitation seems to be a suitable way to provide remote rehabilitation services for different conditions. However, to gain maximum benefits from telerehabilitation services, the barriers and challenges (e.g., technology, policy and lack of training) should be further explored and considered.

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