Clinical Applications and Challenges of Digital Health During COVID-19

Introduction: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted most of the standard face-to-face consultations and has indirectly necessitated adoption of digitalisation into the healthcare services. We aim to assess the clinical applications and challenges of digital health during the pandemic. Methodology: We conducted a systematic search by using three databases including Pubmed, Cochrane and Scopus from December 2019 to May 2021. Included studies examined any elements of digital health in all aspects of healthcare during COVID-19 pandemic, published in English language and available in full-text articles. Independent reviewers assessed the search results, extracted data and quality of the included studies. Results: A total of 47 studies out of initial 282 search results met the inclusion criteria and were extracted for information on types of digital health, clinical applications and challenges. Digital health were used for paediatric populations (n=3), single gender populations only (n=4) whilst the remaining for mixed gender adult populations (n=40). The common clinical applications of digital were for orthopaedics and cardiovascular medicine fields. Majority of the studies showed effective application of telemedicine during COVID-19 for consultations between remote client and healthcare provider, remote monitoring of client health or diagnostic data by provider and also transmission of medical data to healthcare provider. However, challenges to digital health identified included patient factors, staffing factors, digital barriers and economic barriers. Discussion / Conclusion: Digital health is an effective solution for managing healthcare services. However, the challenges need to be addressed appropriately to promote more utilisation of digital health during this challenging time. Disclaimer: Abstract text might vary slightly from what is displayed in the e-poster.This poster was submitted to the 14th National Conference for Clinical Research (NCCR) in August 18-20, 2021. https://nccrconference.com.my