Telerehabilitation brings together a set of rehabilitation practices applied remotely by means of information and communication technologies. Even though it has been taking on increasing importance in many health fields over 10 years, telerehabilitation had yet to find its place in pulmonary rehabilitation before 2020, when the pandemic situation impelled numerous teams to put it to work. Pilot studies on respiratory diseases, primarily COPD, along with recent data from randomized or non-randomized studies, have enhanced our understanding of "remote" practice. In this review of the literature, we will show that pulmonary telerehabilitation is feasible, safe and likely to yield short-term (and possibly longer term) effects generally similar to those achieved in the pulmonary rehabilitation programs of specialized centers, especially as regards some indicators of exercise tolerance, dyspnea or patient quality of life. However, the number of studies and patients included in these programs remains too limited in terms of modalities, duration, long-term effects, or adaptations in case of exacerbation to be the subject of recommendations. The potential of respiratory telerehabilitation justifies continuing clinical trials and experiments, which need to be coordinated with the interventions characterizing a conventional program.
Keywords: BPCO; COPD; Information and communication technologies; Readaptation; Technologie de l’information et la communication, Télémédecine; Telemedicine; Telerehabilitation; Téléréadaptation.
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