The efficacy and safety of telerehabilitation for patients following total knee arthroplasty: a overviews of systematic reviews

BACKGROUND: Studies evaluating the effectiveness and safety of telerehabilitation in patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) have increased. However, the study quality and results differ, systematic reviews are limited. We aimed to synthesise systematic reviews and meta-analyses to assess the effects of telerehabilitation in patients post-TKA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses regarding the effectiveness and safety of TKA telerehabilitation were retrieved from eight databases from establishment to 18 December 2022. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR 2), Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS) and GRADE system were used to evaluate results, methods, bias and evidence quality. RESULTS: Thirteen systematic reviews and meta-analyses were analysed. The AMSTAR 2 showed low methodological quality in seven studies and very low quality in six. Among the key items, item 2 had been registered on website before systematic review in four reviews. Concerning item 4, did not provide a comprehensive search strategy in 4 reviews. For item 7, none of the reviews provided a list of reasons for excluding an article. For item 9, regarding whether appropriate tools were used to assess the risk of bias of each included study, one review was assessed as ‘partially yes’, one review only included RCTs, and the remainder were assessed as ‘yes’. For item 11, one review did not specify the statistical methods used, and three reviews did not conduct a meta-analysis. For item 13, four reviews considered the risk of bias when interpreting or discussing the study results. For item 15, seven reviews did not evaluate publication bias. The PRISMA scores of the 13 reviews ranged from 17.5 to 26.0. The PRISMA indicated that 69.2% had no protocol registration, 38.5% did not provide other materials and evidence certainty, 23.1% did not provide certainty assessment, 30.8% did not report study bias. According to the ROBIS scale, diferrent domains have diferrent risks in all the reviews. CONCLUSION: Telerehabilitation positively affects walking ability, knee extension and patient costs post-TKA surgery. Regarding the quality of life, patient satisfaction and the WOMAC, telerehabilitation had similar effects to conventional rehabilitation. Owing to the low quality of the studies, these conclusions should be interpreted cautiously, high-quality studies are needed in the future. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12938-023-01158-z.