Study 1: A meta-analysis completed by Suso-Marti et al. (2021) looked at 29 separate studies comparing online and in-person physiotherapy for various conditions. Results found no significant difference between the two modes of physiotherapy for both musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory conditions; a small difference was found in favor of tele-rehabilitation for neurological patients. The study concluded that tele-rehabilitation offers positive results compared to conventional in-person physiotherapy.

Study 2: A meta-analysis by Tsang et al. (2022) looked at the effectiveness of telehealth physiotherapy for clients post total knee replacement. Including 11 studies and a total of 1825 participants, results showed that online rehabilitation is comparable to in-person physiotherapy in reducing pain and improving health outcomes in those recovering from a total knee replacement.

Study 3: A systematic review by Velayati et al. (2020) evaluated the effectiveness of telehealth physiotherapy in the elderly compared to conventional in-person rehabilitation. Results showed that for elderly patients with a variety of diagnoses, tele-rehabilitation showed similar benefit to traditional physiotherapy. It concluded that online physiotherapy can be regarded as an alternative to traditional physiotherapy.

Study 4: A Randomized Control Trial completed recently by Bennell et al. (2022) looked at the effect of telehealth-delivered exercise programs on patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), compared to a control group who only received electronic OA information. It concluded that the telehealth physiotherapy group exceeded the control group in decreasing knee pain, improving physical function, reducing weight and improving patients quality of life at both the 6 month and 12 month mark.