The Present and Future of eHealth in Spain From a Health Management Perspective

The Current Status of Telemedicine Technology Use Across the World Health Organization European Region: An Overview of Systematic Reviews

BACKGROUND

Several systematic reviews evaluating the use of telemedicine by clinicians, patients, and health authorities to improve the delivery of care in the 53 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region have been conducted in recent years. However, a study summarizing the findings of these reviews has not been conducted.

OBJECTIVE

This overview of systematic reviews aimed to summarize findings regarding the use of telemedicine across the 53 member states and identify the medical fields and levels of care in and at which the effectiveness, feasibility, and applicability of telemedicine have been demonstrated. The barriers to and facilitators of telemedicine use were also evaluated and collated to help with the design and implementation of telemedicine interventions.

METHODS

Through a comprehensive systematic evaluation of the published and unpublished literature, we extracted clinical, epidemiological, and technology-related data from each review included in the study. We focused on evaluating the barriers to and facilitators of the use of telemedicine apps across the 53 member states considered. We rated the methodological quality of each of the included reviews based on A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Review 2 approach and judged the overall certainty of evidence by using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations methodology. The entire process was performed by 2 independent authors.

RESULTS

This overview drew on data from >2239 primary studies, with >20,000 enrolled patients in total, within the WHO European Region. On the basis of data from randomized trials, observational studies, and economic evaluations from several countries, the results show a clear benefit of telemedicine technologies in the screening, diagnosis, management, treatment, and long-term follow-up of a series of chronic diseases. However, we were unable to pool the results into a reliable numeric parameter because of the high heterogeneity of intervention methodologies, scheduling, primary study design discrepancies, settings, and geographical locations. In addition to the clinical outcomes of the interventions, the social and economic outcomes are highlighted.

CONCLUSIONS

The application of telemedicine is well established across countries in the WHO European Region; however, some countries could still benefit from the many uses of these digital solutions. Barriers related to users, technology, and infrastructure were the largest. Conversely, the provision of health services using technological devices was found to significantly enhance patients' clinical outcomes, improve the long-term follow-up of patients by medical professionals, and offer logistical benefits for both patients and health workers.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) CRD42022309375; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=309375.

Metal substitutions incarbonic anhydrase: a halide ion probe study

Monitoring of the mental health status of the population and assessment of its determinants are 2 of the most relevant pillars of public mental health, and data from population health surveys could be instrumental to support them. Although these surveys could be an important and suitable resource for these purposes, due to different limitations and challenges, they are often relegated to the background behind other data sources, such as electronic health records. These limitations and challenges include those related to measurement properties and cross-cultural validity of the tools used for the assessment of mental disorders, their degree of representativeness, and possible difficulties in the linkage with other data sources. Successfully addressing these limitations could significantly increase the potential of health surveys in the monitoring of mental disorders and ultimately maximize the impact of the relevant policies to reduce their burden at the population level. The widespread use of data from population health surveys, ideally linked to electronic health records data, would enhance the quality of the information available for research, public mental health decision-making, and ultimately addressing the growing burden of mental disorders.