This systematic review and meta-analysis pools 7 randomized trials comparing telerehabilitation with home-based exercise for shoulder disorders. It asks whether remote, technology-supported rehab produces better range of motion, function, pain relief, and quality of life than unsupervised home exercise. The population was mostly middle-aged patients with rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, or impingement.
When a patient with a rotator cuff or frozen shoulder problem cannot attend supervised therapy, this analysis supports offering technology-supported home rehab rather than a printed exercise sheet. The mechanism is compliance: reminders, remote monitoring, and biofeedback keep patients exercising correctly, which is where unsupervised home programs fail.
Expect telerehabilitation to help range of motion and function first. Pain relief lags and only separates from standard home exercise after roughly 12 weeks, so counsel patients that duration matters for pain.
Weigh the evidence appropriately: this pools only 7 small RCTs with short follow-up and mixed diagnoses, and the pain analysis had high heterogeneity. Do not extrapolate these results to fractures, which were excluded. The practical takeaway is that structured remote supervision beats a static home program, but the effect sizes are small to moderate and long-term durability is unproven.
This systematic review and meta-analysis pools 7 randomized trials comparing telerehabilitation with home-based exercise for shoulder disorders. It asks whether remote, technology-supported rehab produces better range of motion, function, pain relief, and quality of life than unsupervised home exercise. The population was mostly middle-aged patients with rotator cuff tears, frozen shoulder, or impingement.
When a patient with a rotator cuff or frozen shoulder problem cannot attend supervised therapy, this analysis supports offering technology-supported home rehab rather than a printed exercise sheet. The mechanism is compliance: reminders, remote monitoring, and biofeedback keep patients exercising correctly, which is where unsupervised home programs fail.
Expect telerehabilitation to help range of motion and function first. Pain relief lags and only separates from standard home exercise after roughly 12 weeks, so counsel patients that duration matters for pain.
Weigh the evidence appropriately: this pools only 7 small RCTs with short follow-up and mixed diagnoses, and the pain analysis had high heterogeneity. Do not extrapolate these results to fractures, which were excluded. The practical takeaway is that structured remote supervision beats a static home program, but the effect sizes are small to moderate and long-term durability is unproven.