Evidence for Digital Health Tools Designed to Support the Triage of Musculoskeletal Conditions in Primary, Urgent, and Emergency Care Settings: Scoping Review
Musculoskeletal conditions remain a blind spot for people designing, implementing, and evaluating digital health for triage: few tools were specifically designed for musculoskeletal conditions, and most existing tools performed poorly when applied to musculoskeletal populations. We recommend health systems and clinicians use a multimodal approach, integrating both digital health tools and clinical decision-making to safely triage and diagnose until a more robust tool for musculoskeletal conditions is available. Future tool developers need to use transparent, standardized processes that prioritize tool safety, clinical value, and trustworthiness when designing for clinicians and patients.
Authors
- Niels van Berkel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5106-7692)
- Cobie Starcevich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0926-8295)
- Michael Skovdal Rathleff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1173-0335)
- Clare L. Ardern (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8102-3631)
- Elena Lopatina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8233-587X)
- Dean Giustini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6197-8788)
- Ellen Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7080-9946)
- Linda Truong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0728-6297)
- Jamon L. Couch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-6481-041X)
- James G. Wrightson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7106-7470)
- Raphaël Vincent (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-1599-0224)
- Alex Haagaard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2382-9001)
- Eunice Lui
Institutions
- Alberta Health Services (CA)
- University of British Columbia (CA)
- University of Calgary (CA)
- La Trobe University (AU)
- Curtin University (AU)
- Spinal Cord Injury BC (CA)
- Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont (CA)
- Research Canada (CA)
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation (CA)
- North Metropolitan Health Service (AU)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Aalborg University (DK)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Medical Internet Research
- Published
- 2025-12-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.2196/81578
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.88