title: Telemedicine in inflammatory bowel disease: opportunities and approaches.
abstract: This review article summarizes the evidence about telemedicine applications (e.g., telemonitoring, teleconsulting, and tele-education) in the management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and we aim to give an overview of the acceptance and impact of these interventions on health outcomes. Based on the literature search on "inflammatory bowel disease," "Crohn's disease" and "ulcerative colitis" in combination with "e-health," "telemedicine," and "telemanagement," we selected 58 titles and abstracts published up to June 2014 and searched in PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database, Web of Science and Conference Proceedings. Titles and abstracts were screened for a set of inclusion criteria: e-health intervention, IBD as the main disease, and a primary study performed. Finally, 16 were included for full reading, data extraction, and critical appraisal of the evaluation. Most studies use telemonitoring (home telemanagement system or web portal) and telecare (real-time telephone and image) as telemedicine applications and assessed the feasibility and acceptance of these systems, adherence to treatment, quality of life, and patient knowledge, particularly in patients with ulcerative colitis. Furthermore, some of these studies evaluated the patients' empowerment, health care costs, and safety of telemonitoring in IBD. In conclusion, the health outcomes of telemedicine applications in IBD suggest that these could be implemented in clinical practice because they are safe and feasible applications that are well accepted by the patient and improve adherence, quality of life, and disease knowledge. Further studies with large sample sizes and complex diseases are needed to confirm these results.
authors.affiliation: *Health Research Institute "La Fe University Hospital," Valencia, Spain; †CIBEREHD (Networked Biomedical Research Center for Hepatic and Digestive Diseases), Valencia, Spain; ‡Department of Gastroenterology, La Fe University and Polytechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain; §Morales Meseguer Hospital, Murcia, Spain; ‖Instituto de Aplicaciones de las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicaciones Avanzadas (ITACA), Politechnic University, Valencia, Spain; ¶Telemedicine Unit, La Fe University and Politechnic Hospital, Valencia, Spain; and **Red de Investigación en Servicios de Salud en Enfermedades Crónicas (REDISSEC), Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aguas Peris
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Del Hoyo
authors.forename: Paloma
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bebia
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Faubel
authors.forename: Alejandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barrios
authors.forename: Guillermo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bastida
authors.forename: Bernardo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Valdivieso
authors.forename: Pilar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nos
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012648:Self Care; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000379:methods*