Objective To review published literature on telemedicine in China using qualitative analysis. Methods Such databases as CBM, VIP, CNKI, and CSSCI were electronically and comprehensively searched for clinical studies related to telemedicine from inception to March 2013. References of the included studies were also retrieved. Two reviewers independently identified the literature according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, extracted data, and assessed the quality of the included studies. Then, qualitative analysis was performed in aspects of the application fields, range, and effects of the included studies. Result Finally, 19 studies were eligible for the analysis, including 16 quasi-randomized controlled trials and 3 observational studies. According to methodological evaluation standards (JBI, 2005), among 16 quasi-randomized controlled trials, 12 were of medium quality and four were of low quality; and 3 observational studies were all of low quality. The results of qualitative analysis showed that, literature on telemedicine had increased by year since 1995. However, the literature on relevant research of telemedicine had been published since 2002. The number of literature increased evenly and sporadically in journals. According to the classification of the application fields of telemedicine, 15 (80%) related to remote monitoring, especially related to remote fetal monitoring, 4 (21%) were remote consultation, and 3 (16%) were remote treatment. The results of 19 studies showed that, telemedicine had better effects than traditional medicine. Conclusion In China, literature related to telemedicine increases by year but the quality of them are low. High quality studies are further needed. The distribution of the application fields of telemedicine is uneven, most of which focuses on remote monitoring. The quality of research is low and need high-quality research in future. The therapeutic effects of telemedicine are better with accurate monitoring data and convenience to patients..
ObjectivesTo systematically review the efficacy of telemedicine on blood glucose level and pregnancy outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes mellitus.MethodsThe Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Scopus, CBM, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were electronically searched to collect randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on efficacy of telemedicine on blood glucose and pregnancy outcomes in patients with gestational diabetes from inception to January 1st, 2019. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies, and then meta-analysis was performed by RevMan 5.3 software.ResultsA total of 10 RCTs involving 1 267 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that there were no statistical significances in fasting blood glucose (MD=−0.34, 95%CI −1.62 to 0.93, P=0.60), HbA1c (MD=−0.22, 95%CI −0.61 to 0.17, P=0.27), gestational age at delivery (MD=0.03, 95%CI −0.13 to 0.19, P=0.72), premature rate (OR=0.52, 95%CI 0.26 to 1.01, P=0.05), caesarean delivery rate (OR=0.87, 95%CI 0.57 to 1.31, P=0.51), infant birth weight (MD=13.01, 95%CI −45.75 to 71.78, P=0.66), large for gestational age rate (OR=1.16, 95%CI 0.83 to 1.62, P=0.40), pre- eclampsia/pregnancy induced hypertension rate (OR=1.04, 95%CI 0.52 to 2.09, P=0.91), neonatal hypoglycaemia rate (OR=1.21, 95%CI 0.75 to 1.95, P=0.44) and neonatal jaundice rate (OR=1.09, 95%CI 0.59 to 2.00, P=0.78) between telemedicine management and outpatient follow-up of gestational diabetes mellitus. However, the telemedicine management group had lower 2h postprandial blood glucose (MD=−3.45, 95%CI −5.53 to −1.37, P=0.001).ConclusionsThe current evidence shows that telemedicine management of gestational diabetes mellitus achieves similar efficacy and safety in blood glucose level and pregnancy outcomes as outpatient follow-up. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.
Recently, with the development of technology, the 5th generation mobile communication technology (5G) is developing day by day. Mobile medical industry has a huge market in our country. As a strategic emerging industry in China, 5G will focus on the medical care industry, enhance the service quality of medical care, enable innovative applications and services, and make the medical industry more digital, networked and intelligent. 5G has an epoch-making significance for improving the quality of health monitoring and self-care ability, and promoting medical care development. Therefore, this paper introduces the definition, advantages, and significance of 5G and its application status in medical care, in order to lay a foundation for promoting the deep integration of 5G and medical care.
ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the effects of telemedicine on the management of warfarin therapy.MethodsWe searched PubMed, EMbase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Database (from inception to February 2020) and conducted retrospective literature searching to identify studies about the management of warfarin using telemedicine intervention techniques. R language software was used to evaluate the efficacy and safety of telemedicine on warfarin management.ResultsA total of 7 239 articles were retrieved, and 12 articles were finally included according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, totaling 8 112 patients, including 3 726 patients in the intervention group and 4 386 patients in the control group. The results of meta-analysis showed that there was a statistical difference in the accurate international normalized ratio (INR) treatment target range time ratio between the intervention group and the control group (MD=6.52, 95%CI 2.13 to 10.92, P<0.01, I2=89%). The incidence of bleeding events (RR=0.61, 95%CI 0.46 to 0.81, P=0.97, I2=0%) and the incidence of thromboembolic events (RR=0.50, 95%CI 0.29 to 0.85, P=0.63, I2=0%) were not statistically different between the two groups. ConclusionExisting evidence indicates that telemedicine management has a benefit in anticoagulant efficacy compared with conventional anticoagulant management in patients with thrombotic diseases, but there is no statistical difference in safety. Limited by the quantity and quality of the included studies, the above conclusion needs to be verified by more high-quality studies.
The Diabetic Foot and Peripheral Vascular Disease Study Group, Chinese Diabetes Society, released an expert advice Recommendations of Chinese Experts on the Standardized Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetic Foot During Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Pandemic, and the International Diabetic Foot Care Group and D-Foot International released a document Fast-track Pathway for Diabetic Foot Ulceration During COVID-19 Crisis: A Document from International Diabetic Foot Care Group and D-Foot International during the 2020 outbreak, respectively. Both have the same goals, but the implementation focuses are different. The aim of this article is to give an interpretation of both expert advices in terms of the general principles, the epidemic prevention and control, the family, community and hospitalization management model of diabetic foot, the holistic principle of diabetic foot standardized management, and the telemedicine application in the late epidemic period.
Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, the traditional outpatient and medical center pulmonary rehabilitation models for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have been limited, while pulmonary rehabilitation technology has always been the focus of clinical and scientific research in rehabilitation. This article reviews the application status of remote pulmonary rehabilitation for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease under the coronavirus disease 2019 epidemic in recent years. From the selection and method of remote pulmonary rehabilitation equipment before the epidemic, to the development of rehabilitation forms and equipment innovation after the epidemic, the current status and problems of remote pulmonary rehabilitation are clarified. Establishing a remote pulmonary rehabilitation model in line with China’s national conditions is the direction and goal of future development.
ObjectiveTo assess the effects of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic on patients with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome and their parents through an online questionnaire survey.MethodsThis study was a cross-sectional study conducted from May to June 2022. The questionnaire focused on seizure attacks, medical visits, and the mental health assessment of parents. ResultsA total of 67 patients with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome were included in this study. During the epidemic, 25.37% of the patients experienced increased spasms, and 73.13% of the patients had limited commercial availability of anti-seizure medications, mainly vigabatrin and clobazam. All patients had difficulty seeking medical services, and about 73.13% of them used telemedicine service. In addition, 31.34% of parents felt anxious, and 73.14% had different degrees of depressive symptoms. ConclusionThe difficulty in seeking medical services, limited commercial availability of anti-seizure medications, and the anxiety and depressive states of parents during the COVID-19 pandemic aggravate the difficulty in management of patients with infantile epileptic spasms syndrome. Improvement of the health care system and medication management strategy, as well as reasonable use of telemedicine service, may help solve this problem.
Objective To explore the feasibility and effect of remote medical education model using online film reading training to improve the ability of ophthalmologists in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (hereinafter referred to as “Xinjiang Region”) in diagnosing fundus diseases. MethodsThe three-level film reading training system of Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps system division hospital-Corps Hospital-Peking Union Medical College Hospital was established. From June 2022 to January 2023, 4 159 posterior color fundus images were continuously collected from Department of Ophthalmology of Xinjiang Corps Hospital and 4 divisional hospitals in the Corps medical system. Among them, hypertensive retinopathy, diabetic retinopathy, exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), atrophic AMD and retinal vein occlusion were 3 073, 651, 43, 186 and 206 cases, respectively. The images were divided into 3 rounds (first, second and last) according to the proportion of diseases. The doctors who participated in the training (hereinafter referred to as the "training") were 15 ophthalmologists from the Corps Hospital of Xinjiang Region and the division hospital of the Corps system. There were 7 male and 8 female. Age was (38.1±4.0) years. The titles of senior, deputy senior, intermediate and junior are 1, 6, 5 and 3 respectively; Bachelor's degree and master's degree are 13 and 2 respectively. The working time of fundus disease specialty was (9.6±3.3) years. The film reading system training was conducted before the first round of labeling, and after each round of film reading, the doctors of Peking Union Medical College Hospital gave feedback and explanation on the film reading results. The diagnostic consistency, sensitivity and specificity were compared by paired sample t test. Spearman or Pearson correlation analysis was conducted between the improvement of diagnostic level and professional title, education, age and working hours of ocular fundus disease. ResultsAll the participating doctors completed the first, second and last reading. After each round of film reading, the film reading summary was carried out for 2 hours. The average diagnostic agreement rates of participating physicians were 53.0%, 67.0% and 75.0%, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity were 0.38, 0.69, 054 and 0.66, 0.85, 0.96, respectively. There was significant difference between the first and last examination (P＜0.001). The sensitivity of the second reading was significantly higher than that of the first reading, and the sensitivity of the last reading was significantly lower than that of the second reading, with statistical significance (P＜0.05). The specificity of the second reading was significantly higher than that of the first reading, and the last reading was significantly higher than that of the second reading, with statistical significance (P＜0.05). There was no significant correlation (P＞0.05) between the improvement of diagnostic level of participating physicians and educational background (Rho=0.07), professional title (Rho=0.13), age (r=0.20), and working time of ophthalmofundus disease specialty (r=0.26).ConclusionsRelying on the three-level online telemedicine training, it can improve the ability of ophthalmologists in Xinjiang region to diagnose fundus diseases. The preliminary telemedicine education model has demonstrated potential for feasibility and effectiveness in remote areas with inadequate medical resources.