Diagnostic and Interventional implications of Telemedicine in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: a literature review.

Diagnostic and Interventional implications of Telemedicine in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: a literature review.

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Diagnostic and Interventional implications of Telemedicine in Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment: a literature review.

Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2019 Oct 15;:

Authors: Costanzo MC, Arcidiacono C, Rodolico A, Panebianco M, Aguglia E, Signorelli MS

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Worldwide, life expectancy and ageing-related disorders as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are increasing, having a rising impact on patients' quality of life and caregivers' distress. Telemedicine offers many possibilities, such as remote diagnosing and monitoring patients.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to provide a narrative synthesis of the literature about the implementation of telemedicine for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of patients with AD and MCI and their caregivers.
METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted on MEDLINE, EMBASE and The Cochrane Library databases up to September 2018. Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer's Disease diagnoses were the conditions of interest. We excluded other dementias.
RESULTS: Fifty-six articles met inclusion criteria. We identified two main categories: Diagnosis Group (DG) and Follow up/Interventional Group (FIG). 15 articles suggested how to make a remote or earlier diagnosis: 4 were case-control accuracy studies, 9 were paired comparative accuracy studies and 2 were prospective single-arm accuracy studies. Among these, 4 focused on MCI, 6 on AD and 5 on both. Forty-one focused on supporting patients during the stages of the disease (28 articles), patient's caregivers (9 articles) or both (4 articles).
CONCLUSIONS: The rising use of Tele-Medicine could actively improve AD and MCI patients' lives, reduce caregivers' burden and facilitate an early diagnosis if patients live in remote places. However, as some studies report, it is relevant to take into account the emotional impact of telemedicine on patients and not only the effectiveness.

PMID: 31617247 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]