Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Telemedicine in lung cancer during COVID‑19 outbreak: A scoping review

Authors

. Ali Garavand 1
. Nasim Aslani 1
. Ali Behmanesh 2
. Roshanak Shams 3

1 Department of Health Information Technology, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran

2 Bone and Joint Reconstruction Research Center, Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Education Development Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran ƗFirst authors: Ali Gravand and Nasim Aslani contributed equally to this study

3 Bone and Joint Reconstruction Research Center, Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
Abstract:
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‑19) pandemic has negatively affected the medical services,
particularly cancer diagnosis and treatment, for vulnerable cancer patients. Although lung cancer
has a high mortality rate, monitoring and following up of these patients can help to improve disease
management during the pandemic. Telemedicine has proven to be an effective method of providing
health care to these patients. As a result, the purpose of this study was to identify telemedicine
applications in the management of lung cancer patients during the COVID‑19 pandemic. In this scoping
review, studies published in online scientific databases such as Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed
between January 1, 2020 and September 1, 2021 were systematically searched and screened. The
studies were chosen using predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. The bibliometric information
and technological aspects of included studies were collected using a data extraction form and the
data was analyzed using the content analysis approach. A total of 68 articles were found, from which
four articles were finally selected based on specific inclusion/exclusion criteria. Real‑time consultation
was one of the most common applications of telemedicine to deliver health‑care services to cancer
patients. Health‑care providers used applications such as Zoom, Facetime, WeChat, and e‑mail,
as well as devices including PCs, phones, and smartphones to provide real‑time consultation to
patients via videoconferencing, phone calls, and messaging, as well as store and forward consultation
via e‑mail. Telemedicine in the COVID‑19 pandemic provides health‑care services to lung cancer
patients at their homes by enabling physicians and patients to communicate in real time. Several
telemedicine services are still unavailable for patients with lung cancer. As a result, health experts,
politicians, and entrepreneurs must pay special attention to this issue.

Keywords

COVID‑19
lung cancer
telemedicine
tele‑oncology
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 12, Issue 9
October 2022
Pages 1-7

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