Telehealth has comparable outcomes to in-person diabetic foot care during the COVID-19 pandemic

Table 1 Characteristics of the included studies

Ref.	Country	Study type	Objective of the study	Sample size	Key outcomes
Rastogi et al[13]	India, United Kingdom	Observational cohort	Virtual monitoring of DF complications during COVID-19	1199	Virtual healthcare has similar ulcer/limb outcomes as face-to-face care
Shankhdhar et al[16]	India	Case report	DF amputation prevention via telemedicine	1	Complete healing was achieved in 4 wk
Rasmussen et al[19]		Randomized controlled trial	Comparison between outpatient vs telemedical monitoring in DFU	401	Similar healing, amputation rates between both groups, higher mortality in telemedicine
Kilic et al[22]	Turkey	Randomized prospective	Developing and evaluating a mobile foot care application for persons with DM	88	Both groups increased knowledge (test group significantly more so), behavior, and self-efficacy
Téot et al[14]	France	Randomized Control Trial	Complex Wound Healing Outcomes for Outpatients Receiving Care via Telemedicine, Home Health, or Wound Clinic	173	Healing time marginally faster for in-person patients. Mortality comparable
Iacopi et al[23]	Italy	Survey	A survey on patients' perception of a telemedicine service for DF	206	Patients thought telemonitoring to be useful during and after the pandemic. Pts with complications worry more about DF than COVID-19
Kavitha et al[17]	India	Case Reports	Application of tele-podiatry in diabetic foot management	3	Telemedicine effective in low-risk cases of DFU and for referral of higher-risk. Also effective for follow up
Ratliff et al[18]	United States	Case Reports	Telehealth for Wound Management During the COVID-19 Pandemic	2	Improved healing outcomes with implemented telemedicine
Meloni et al[15]	Italy	Cohort	Management of DFU during COVID-19: Effectiveness of a new triage pathway	151	Effective telemedical care with negated hospital transmission
Fasterholdt et al[24]	Denmark	Randomized Control Trial	Cost-effectiveness of telemonitoring of diabetic foot ulcer patients	374	Telemedicine cost is €2039 less per patient treated vs standard care; not statistically significant. Amputation rates were similar
Smith-Strøm et al[21]	Norway	Cluster Randomized Control Trial	Effect of Telemedicine Follow-up Care on Diabetes-Related Foot Ulcers	182	No significant difference in healing time, deaths, number of consultations, or patient satisfaction between standard care vs telemedicine. TM group had significantly fewer amputations
van Netten et al[20]	Australia	Cohort	The validity and reliability of remote diabetic foot ulcer assessment using mobile phone images	50	Mobile phone images should not be used as a stand-alone diagnostic instrument for remote assessment of diabetic foot ulcers due to low reliability

DF: Diabetic foot; COVID-19: Coronavirus disease 2019; DFU: Diabetic foot ulcer.