• Int J Technol Assess Health Care · Apr 2010

    Review

    Telemedicine in acute stroke management: systematic review.

    • Tim Johansson and Claudia Wild.
    • Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Health Technology Assessment, Vienna, Austria. tim.johansson@hta.lbg.ac.at
    • Int J Technol Assess Health Care. 2010 Apr 1; 26 (2): 149-55.

    ObjectivesStroke is the third largest cause of death and a major factor in permanent disability. Disparities in access to healthcare services exist due to geographical barriers and limited resources. Rural locations often lack the resources for adequate acute stroke care. Telestroke is intended to enable the transfer of knowledge of acute stroke management to areas with limited neurological services. The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility, acceptability, and treatment delivery reliability of telemedicine systems in acute stroke management.MethodsA systematic review was undertaken.ResultsEighteen studies were included in this systematic review. Telestroke services have been reported to lead to better functional health outcomes, including reduced mortality and dependency, compared with conventional care. Most studies report that systemic tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) treatment increased in hospitals providing telestroke services, although patients were often transferred to a stroke center for continuing monitoring and surveillance. Patients and healthcare providers reported high levels of satisfaction. There was limited evidence regarding the impact on resource utilization and cost-effectiveness.ConclusionsTelemedicine systems can be safe, feasible, and acceptable in acute stroke management. Telestroke is associated with increased delivery of tPA. The lack of standardized measuring and reporting of resources and health outcomes hinder comparisons between telestroke networks and the determination of best practices. More research is needed to explore the clinical and economic impact of telemedicine technologies in acute stroke management, so as to support policy makers in making informed decisions.

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.