Digital Health and Telerehabilitation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Current Evidence, Implementation Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease causing severe physical, bulbar, and respiratory disability, rendering traditional center-based care highly burdensome for patients and informal caregivers. To evaluate how digital health can bridge hospital-to-home management, this narrative review was conducted in accordance with the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) quality criteria. A comprehensive search was performed across the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases to analyze telerehabilitation modalities, remote functional telemonitoring, and caregiver-centered tools. The evidence supports the feasibility of several home-based approaches and the measurement validity of selected motor, respiratory, and bulbar digital markers; however, improved detection of progression does not itself establish therapeutic benefit. Although selected respiratory telemonitoring pathways have reported favorable healthcare-utilization outcomes, current evidence does not consistently demonstrate reductions in hospital admissions or caregiver burden across the technologies reviewed; benefits for functional status and quality of life also remain uncertain for many interventions. Key technologies include wearable inertial sensors, non-invasive ventilation telemetry, markerless computer vision, eye-tracking systems, and mobile applications; however, significant limitations have been reported, particularly in clinical, technological, and evidence-based domains. Therefore, a cross-disease bridging framework is needed to translate and adapt validated digital solutions from higher-prevalence neurological populations to ALS patients. However, specific clinical trials are required to provide ALS-specific data, integrating telemedicine solutions within hybrid care models and providing sustainable solutions to optimize multidisciplinary ALS management.

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Journal
Sci
Published
2026-11-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/sci8110362
Primary Topic
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
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article
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article

Digital Health and Telerehabilitation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Current Evidence, Implementation Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Alessio Turco, Matilde Rosalia Picco, Lorenzo Lippi, Alessandro de Sire et al.
Sci
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
article

Digital Health and Telerehabilitation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Current Evidence, Implementation Challenges, and Future Perspectives

Alessio Turco, Matilde Rosalia Picco, Lorenzo Lippi, Alessandro de Sire, Marco Invernizzi, Fabiola De Marchi, Letizia Mazzini, Niccolò Madonia
article en

Abstract

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressing neurodegenerative disease causing severe physical, bulbar, and respiratory disability, rendering traditional center-based care highly burdensome for patients and informal caregivers. To evaluate how digital health can bridge hospital-to-home management, this narrative review was conducted in accordance with the Scale for the Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) quality criteria. A comprehensive search was performed across the PubMed/Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus databases to analyze telerehabilitation modalities, remote functional telemonitoring, and caregiver-centered tools. The evidence supports the feasibility of several home-based approaches and the measurement validity of selected motor, respiratory, and bulbar digital markers; however, improved detection of progression does not itself establish therapeutic benefit. Although selected respiratory telemonitoring pathways have reported favorable healthcare-utilization outcomes, current evidence does not consistently demonstrate reductions in hospital admissions or caregiver burden across the technologies reviewed; benefits for functional status and quality of life also remain uncertain for many interventions. Key technologies include wearable inertial sensors, non-invasive ventilation telemetry, markerless computer vision, eye-tracking systems, and mobile applications; however, significant limitations have been reported, particularly in clinical, technological, and evidence-based domains. Therefore, a cross-disease bridging framework is needed to translate and adapt validated digital solutions from higher-prevalence neurological populations to ALS patients. However, specific clinical trials are required to provide ALS-specific data, integrating telemedicine solutions within hybrid care models and providing sustainable solutions to optimize multidisciplinary ALS management.

SciVol. 8(11)
Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro” (IT), Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria Maggiore della Carita (IT), Azienda Ospedaliera Nazionale SS. Antonio e Biagio e Cesare Arrigo (IT), Link Campus University (IT)
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research
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