Maarten van Egmond

104 Chapter 5 Table 2. Details of the interventions Study reference Type of technology Pre-/ post- surgery Care provider Intervention Russell 2011 Videoconferencing Post Physiotherapist Exercise Tousignant 2011 Videoconferencing Post Physiotherapist Exercise Tranmer 2004 Telephone Post Nurse Education/ information/ support Van den Brink 2007 Internet Post Not specified Education/ information/ support Vonk Noordegraaf 2014 Internet Pre and post Not specified Education/ information/ support Abbreviations: FU, follow up; UC, usual care; IVT, interactive virtual telerehabilitation Main outcomes Evaluation of effects Of all studies that investigated the effectiveness of physiotherapy with telerehabilitation on postoperative outcomes, 16 studies reported significant differences in favor of telerehabilitation for at least one functional outcome. Physical functioning measured with the medical outcomes study short form health survey increased significantly in the telerehabilitation group in the studies by Barnason et al. 25 , Jones et al. 30 and Pinto et al. 41 Physical activities measured with the 7-day physical activity recall scale increased significantly in the studies by Pinto et al. 39,41 , while Ligibel et al. 38 and Hawkes et al. 37 were not able to find a difference. Studies that investigated telerehabilitation in patients with orthopedic surgery reported a significant increase in knee extension in favor of telerehabilitation 8 , while Eriksson et al. 43 found comparable improvements in shoulder function. Tousignant et al. 35 reported a significant decrease in pain in the telerehabilitation group, contrary to Russell et al. 34 who could not find a difference. Mental health functions were positively affected by telerehabilitation in the studies by Barnason et al. 25 and Jones et al. 30 , and Arthur et al. 24 reported a significant difference in social support.