Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40638699›Full record

ArticlePLOS digital health2025

Barriers and facilitators of provision of telemedicine in Nigeria: A systematic review.

Osagie Kenneth Cole, Mustapha Muhammed Abubakar, Abdulmuminu Isah, Sule Hayatu Sule, Blessing Onyinye Ukoha-Kalu

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLOS digital health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
5citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Review
  5. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Osagie Kenneth ColeDirectorate of Clinical Services, Medical Services Branch, Nigerian Air Force, Abuja, Nigeria.
Mustapha Muhammed AbubakarDirectorate of Therapeutic Services, Medical Services Branch, Nigerian Air Force, Abuja, Nigeria.
Abdulmuminu IsahPerson-Centered HIV Research Team, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.
Sule Hayatu SuleHealth Commons Solutions Lab, Sinai Health, Toronto, Canada.
Blessing Onyinye Ukoha-KaluPerson-Centered HIV Research Team, Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Management, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3728-4647

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Healthcare access remains a challenge in developing countries and could be a drawback to the attainment of Objective 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Digital interventions such as telemedicine have been identified as an effective tool to improve healthcare access. However, evidence suggests that the impact of telemedicine is not uniform globally due to variances in barriers and facilitators. Thus, we conducted a systematic review to identify the barriers and facilitators of telemedicine in Nigeria. The systematic review was pre-registered on PROSPERO (Identification Number: CRD42024609405). Search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and the Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature databases. We included studies that reported on the estimates of barriers and facilitators of telemedicine in Nigeria as well as the factors associated with telemedicine implementation, provision, or operation in Nigeria. The outcome was the reportage of barriers and facilitators of telemedicine in Nigeria. A total of 384 studies were identified from the search. After the application of eligibility criteria and deletion of duplicates, 29 studies were included in the review. The most reported barriers were technical and institutional-related while the most reported facilitators were human-resource-related. Technical barriers frequently reported were power outages, poor internet connectivity, and paucity of health professionals with technical expertise while institutional barriers were lack of regulation and poor organizational policies. Formal telemedicine training and education were the most reported human resource facilitators while the use of low-tech educational networks and internet accessibility were the most reported technical facilitators. Findings from this review suggest that technical barriers are a challenge to adopting telemedicine in Nigeria. Evidence shows that education and training are critical in addressing these technical challenges. Thus, this review provides a background for interventions towards the effective implementation of telemedicine in Nigeria.

Identifiers

PMID40638699
PMCPMC12244542

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.