Background: One aspect of the distancing measures imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is that telemedicine consultations have increased exponentially. Among these consultations, the assessment and follow-up of patients with chronic diseases in a non-presential setting has been strengthened considerably. Nevertheless, some controversy remains about the most suitable means of patient follow-up.
Objective: To analyze the impact of the telemedicine measures implemented during the COVID-19 period on chronic patients.
Material and methods: A systematic review was carried out using the following databases: PubMed, Pro-Quest, and Scopus. The systematic review followed the guidelines outlined in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search equation utilized descriptors sourced from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus. The search equation was: "hypertension AND older AND primary care AND (COVID-19 OR coronavirus)" and its Spanish equivalent.
Results: The following data were obtained: 14 articles provided data on 6,109,628 patients and another 4 articles focused on a study population of 9684 physicians. Telemedicine was less likely to be used by elderly patients (OR 0.85; 95% C.I. 0.83-0.88; p = 0.05), those of Asian race (OR 0.69; 95% C.I. 0.66-0.73; p = 0.05), and those whose native language was not English (OR 0.89; 95% C.I. 0.78-0.9; p = 0.05). In primary care, lower use of telemedicine was associated with residents of rural areas (OR 0.81; p = 0.05), patients of African American race (OR 0.65, p = 0.05), and others (OR 0.64; p = 0.05). A high proportion (40%) of physicians had no prior training in telemedicine techniques. The highest quality in terms of telephone consultation was significantly associated with physicians who did not increase their prescription of antibiotherapy during the pandemic (OR = 0.30, p = 0.05) or prescribe more tests (OR 0.06 p = 0.05), i.e., who maintained their former clinical criteria despite COVID-19.
Conclusions: Telemedicine is of proven value and has been especially useful in the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed remote-presential model is most efficient. Appropriate training in this area for physicians and patients, together with correct provision, is essential to prevent errors in implementation and use.
Keywords: chronic diseases; hypertension; older; telehealth; telemedicine.