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Purpose: To systematically review the literature on effectiveness of remote physiotherapeutic e-Health interventions on pain in patients with musculoskeletal disorders., Materials and Methods: Using online data sources PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane in adults with musculoskeletal disorders with a pain-related complaint. Remote physiotherapeutic e-Health interventions were analysed. Control interventions were not specified. Outcomes on effect of remote e-Health interventions in terms of pain intensity., Results: From 11,811 studies identified, 27 studies were included. There is limited evidence for the effectiveness for remote e-Health for patients with back pain based on five articles. Twelve articles studied chronic pain and the effectiveness was dependent on the control group and involvement of healthcare providers. In patients with osteoarthritis (five articles), total knee surgery (two articles), and knee pain (three articles) no significant effects were found for remote e-Health compared to control groups., Conclusions: There is limited evidence for the effectiveness of remote physiotherapeutic e-Health interventions to decrease pain intensity in patients with back pain. There is some evidence for effectiveness of remote e-Health in patients with chronic pain. For patients with osteoarthritis, after total knee surgery and knee pain, there appears to be no effect of e-Health when solely looking at reduction of pain. Implications for rehabilitationThis review shows that e-Health can be an effective way of reducing pain in some populations.Remote physiotherapeutic e-Health interventions may decrease pain intensity in patients with back pain.Autonomous e-Health is more effective than no treatment in patients with chronic pain.There is no effect of e-Health in reduction of pain for patients with osteoarthritis, after total knee surgery and knee pain.

Purpose: To systematically review the evidence about the effectiveness of manual therapy (MT) on pain intensity, frequency and impact of headache in individuals with tension-type headache (TTH)., Methods: Medline, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, CENTRAL, and PEDro were searched in June 2020. Randomized controlled trials that applied MT not associated with other interventions for TTH were selected. The level of evidence was synthesized using GRADE, and Standardized Mean Differences (SMD) were calculated for meta-analysis., Results: Fifteen studies were included with a total sample of 1131 individuals. High velocity and low amplitude techniques were not superior to no treatment on reducing pain intensity (SMD = 0.01, low evidence) and frequency (SMD = -0.27, moderate evidence). Soft tissue interventions were superior to no treatment on reducing pain intensity (SMD = -0.86, low evidence) and frequency of pain (SMD = -1.45, low evidence). Dry needling was superior to no treatment on reducing pain intensity (SMD = -5.16, moderate evidence) and frequency (SMD = -2.14, moderate evidence). Soft tissue interventions were not superior to no treatment and other treatments on the impact of headache., Conclusion: Manual therapy may have positive effects on pain intensity and frequency, but more studies are necessary to strengthen the evidence of the effects of manual therapy on subjects with tension-type headache.Implications for rehabilitationSoft tissue interventions and dry needling can be used to improve pain intensity and frequency in patients with tension type headache.High velocity and low amplitude thrust manipulations were not effective for improving pain intensity and frequency in patients with tension type headache.Manual therapy was not effective for improving the impact of headache in patients with tension type headache.

Background: Treatment of temporomandibular disorder (TMD) currently consists of a combination of noninvasive therapies and may be supported by e-Health. It is, however, unclear if physical therapists and patients are positive towards the use of e-Health., Purpose: To assess the needs, facilitators and barriers of the use of an e-Health application from the perspective of both orofacial physical therapists and patients with TMD., Methods: A descriptive qualitative study was performed. Eleven physical therapists and nine patients with TMD were interviewed using a topic guide. Thematic analysis was applied, and findings were ordered according to four themes: acceptance of e-Health, expected utility, usability and convenience., Results: Physical therapists identified the need for e-Health as a supporting application to send questionnaires, animated exercises and evaluation tools. Key facilitators for both physical therapists and patients for implementing e-Health included the increase in self-efficacy, support of data collection and personalization of the application. Key barriers are the increase of screen time, the loss of personal contact, not up-to-date information and poor design of the application., Conclusions: Physical therapists and patients with TMD are positive towards the use of e-Health, in a blended form with the usual rehabilitation care process for TMD complaints.Implications for rehabilitationThe rehabilitation process of temporomandibular complaints may be supported by the use of e-Health applications.Physical therapists and patients with temporomandibular disorders are positive towards the use of e-Health as an addition to the usual care.Especially during the treatment process, there is a need for clear animated videos and reminders for the patients.