A Systematic Review of eHealth Studies on the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In the current context of the COVID-19 pandemic, many healthcare institutions have resorted to eHealth to manage the disruption in healthcare brought by the pandemic. However, the extent to which eHealth has been used in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been widely investigated. It is in this context that this study sought to systematically review research trends on the use of eHealth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic era, the theoretical underpinnings of the studies on the use of eHealth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the contributions made by these studies. Findings revealed that most studies focused on the ‘health in our hands' and ‘interacting for health' components of eHealth while none of the studies focused on the ‘data enabling health' component. In addition, none of the reviewed studies used a theoretical framework. Albeit with limitations, these studies shed light on the use of eHealth applications for patients' data management and the provision of telemedicine in the fight against COVID-19.