A Scoping Review of the Quality and the Design of Evaluations of Mobile Health, Telehealth, Smart Pump and Monitoring Technologies Performed in a Pharmacy-Related Setting.

scholarly article • Frontiers in pharmacology • 2018 • 2018-07-26

Abstract

Background: There is currently a need for high quality evaluations of new mobile health, telehealth, smart pump and monitoring technologies undertaken in a pharmacy-related setting. We aim to evaluate the use of these monitoring technologies performed in this setting. Methods: A systematic searching of English articles that examined the quality and the design of technologies conducted in pharmacy-related facilities was performed using the following databases: MEDLINE and Cumulative index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) to identify original studies examining the quality and the design of technologies and published in peer-reviewed journals. Extraction of articles and quality assessment of included articles were performed independently by two authors. Quality scores over 75% are classed as being acceptable using a "relatively conservative" quality benchmark. Scores over 55% are included using a "relatively liberal" cut-off point. Results: Screening resulted in the selection of 40 formal evaluations. A substantial number of studies (32, 80.00%) were performed in the United States, quantitative in approach (33, 82.50%) and retrospective cohort (24, 60.00%) in study design. The most common pharmacy-related settings were: 22 primary care (55.00%); 10 hospital pharmacy (25.00%); 7 community pharmacy (17.50%); one primary care and hospital pharmacy (2.50%). The majority of the evaluations (33, 82.50%) reported clinical outcomes, six (15.00%) measured clinical and economic outcomes, and one (2.50%) economic only. Twelve (30.00%) quantitative studies and no qualitative study met objective criteria for "relatively conservative" quality. Using a lower "relatively liberal" benchmark, 27 quantitative (81.82%) and four qualitative (57.41%) studies met the lower quality criterion. Conclusion: Worldwide, few evaluations of mobile health, telehealth, smart pump and monitoring technologies in pharmacy-related setting have been published.Their quality is often below the standard necessary for inclusion in a systematic review mainly due to inadequate study design.

Links & identifiers
Contributors
  • Darrin Baines — author
  • Imandeep K. Gahir — author
  • Afthab Hussain — author
  • Amir Jahan Khan — author
  • Philip J. Schneider — author
  • Syed Shahzad Hasan — author
  • Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar — author
Citation
@article{lens.org/038-101-880-010-401,	author = {Darrin Baines and Imandeep K. Gahir and Afthab Hussain and Amir Jahan Khan and Philip J. Schneider and Syed Shahzad Hasan and Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar},	title = {A Scoping Review of the Quality and the Design of Evaluations of Mobile Health, Telehealth, Smart Pump and Monitoring Technologies Performed in a Pharmacy-Related Setting.},	journal = {Frontiers in pharmacology},	month = {July},	doi = {10.3389/fphar.2018.00678},	date = {2018-07-26},	note = "\url{https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fphar.2018.00678/full} ; \url{http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/31162/} ; \url{https://arizona.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/a-scoping-review-of-the-quality-and-the-design-of-evaluations-of-} ; \url{https://pure.hud.ac.uk/en/publications/a-scoping-review-of-the-quality-and-the-design-of-evaluations-of-} ; \url{https://doaj.org/article/adcb7e94705f4b49a190c3cde31e5d89} ; \url{https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00678/full} ; \url{https://europepmc.org/article/MED/30093859} ; \url{https://pure.hud.ac.uk/ws/files/14339317/fphar_09_00678.pdf} ; \url{https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30093859} ; \url{https://core.ac.uk/download/237461774.pdf}",	url = {https://lens.org/038-101-880-010-401}}