The effect of tele-rehabilitation on improving physical activity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A systematic review of randomized controlled clinical trials

Introduction: Physical activity is a promising strategy to maintain the benefits gained after completing conventional pulmonary rehabilitation in people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Therefore, the purpose of this study is a systematic review of randomized clinical trial and randomized controlled trials to investigate the effect of tele-rehabilitation on improving the physical activity of patients with COPD. Material and Methods: A systematic review was conducted in randomized controlled clinical trial studies without time limit by searching for keywords in the title, abstract and study keywords in the valid scientific databases Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed on October 20, 2021. The quality of the studies was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) checklist; Studies with a score above 7 were analyzed. This study was conducted according to the Preferred reporting Items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA). Results: A total of 83 articles were identified. After screening the full text of the articles, 10 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were classified into two categories: randomized trial (60%) and randomized clinical trial (40%). The technologies used included video conferencing, cloud-based platform, mobile application and telephone calls. In 60% of the studies, tele-rehabilitation interventions had similar improvements in both control (face-to-face) and intervention (tele-technology) groups. However, in the rest, the intervention group reported a significant improvement compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results of the present systematic review showed that although in most studies tele-rehabilitation interventions have the same results as traditional interventions, a well-designed tele-rehabilitation program to improve the physical activity of patients with COPD can supplement or replace the program. It is a traditional rehabilitation and improves the patient s health.