What’s the Scope? A scoping review of remote delivery of complementary and integrative health literature

Objective(s): A scoping review was conducted to synthesize the extant research on the remote delivery of complementary and integrative health (CIH) modalities.

Data Sources: Between June 2020 and October 2020, PubMed, Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Cochrane Reviews, and the Cochrane Clinical Trial Collections databases were used to identify publications using search terms relevant to CIH modalities and remote electronic delivery. Search results were restricted to peer-reviewed articles conducted with human participants that were published in English after 1990.

Study Selection: Five reviewers independently screened articles. No restrictions were set on study design, participant age, or participants’ reported health status.

Data Extraction: Four reviewers extracted data regarding study population, CIH modality, mode of delivery, barriers, facilitators, and outcomes. Data were extracted using a custom abstraction sheet developed by the reviewers.

Data Synthesis: Of the identified 10,884 articles, 326 articles were included. Most articles were randomized controlled trials (n=170), applied mindfulness (n=203) and targeted mental and behavioral health conditions (n=182). Interventions were primarily delivered via mobile applications (n=151) and web based (n=86). Commonly reported barriers were adherence (n=24), resource requirements (e.g., time and space) (n=23), and technology issues (n=21). Facilitators commonly reported were social and technological supports, accessibility, usability, perceptions, and rewards (n=217). Intervention characteristic outcomes were less often assessed but the most often measured were related to participant satisfaction and usability (n=95). Participant outcomes measured were broad and included movement (n=88), stress (n=68) and pain (n=54).

Conclusions: The findings of this review support the remote delivery of CIH modalities as a viable means of treatment for individuals with diverse health concerns. To strengthen the scientific evidence on remotely delivered CIH, future research should address feasibility and include larger samples. Additionally, future research should continue to assess the different technologies best suited for remotely delivering the various CIH modalities.

Author(s) Disclosures: None to disclose.