Abstract
Background
There is a lack of evidence on the effectiveness of telerehabilitation in improving muscle strength, quality of life and joint mobility in adult cancer survivors.
Objective
To evaluate the effectiveness of telerehabilitation in improving muscle strength, quality of life, and joint mobility in cancer survivors compared to traditional face-to-face rehabilitation.
Methods
PubMed, SciELO, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, PEDro, Scopus, and CINAHL databases were searched. We included randomized clinical trials that evaluated adults in cancer treatments using the telerehabilitation modality. The methodological quality of the included studies was assessed using the PEDro scale, risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2 tool, clinical relevance of interventions was interpreted with effect size, and evidence synthesis was determined with GRADE.
Results
Six studies that evaluated a total of 365 adult participants aged between 18 and 80 years were included. A moderate certainty of evidence for improving quality of life and low for improving muscle strength using telerehabilitation interventions was found. In relation to joint mobility, we were unable to assess the evidence as no studies were found that included this measured outcome.
Conclusion
Telerehabilitation was moderately effective in improving quality of life and has low effectiveness in improving muscle strength. It is recommended a telerehabilitation program with a frequency of 3 times a week and with a minimum duration of 3 months to obtain both preventive and positive changes in quality of life and muscle strength.
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