Telerehabilitation for Patients with Cancer: A Scoping Review

This study was aimed at identifying how telemedicine is used for rehabilitation of patients with cancer. An electronic literature search was conducted using the PubMed database covering January 2015 to October 2020. To be included in the review, studies had to report telerehabilitation interventions for patients with cancer. Randomized controlled trials, quasi-experimental studies, as well as feasibility and usability studies were included, and reviews were excluded. Overall, 33 eligible studies were found but only 22 were considered for inclusion. After a detailed analysis, 16 studies were included. Most of the studies concluded that telehealth systems supporting physical exercise were effective to improve function, quality of life, pain, satisfaction and muscle strength. Limitations in most of the studies included non-randomized design and limited number of subjects. We conluded that more studies are needed for stronger evidence of this type of treatment and to facilitate clinical practice in this field.