Non-invasive home telemonitoring in patients with decompensated heart failure: a systematic review and meta-analysis

We planned this systematic review and meta-analysis to study an estimate of the effect of non-invasive home telemonitoring (TM) in the treatment of patients with recently decompensated heart failure (HF). A systematic literature search was conducted in the Medline, Cinahl, and Scopus databases to look for randomized controlled studies comparing TM with standard care in the treatment of patients with recently decompensated HF. The main outcomes of interest were all-cause hospitalizations and mortality. Eleven original articles met our eligibility criteria. The pooled estimate of the relative risk of all-cause hospitalization in the TM group compared with standard care was 0.95 (95% CI 0.84-1.08, P = 0.43) and the relative risk of all-cause death was 0.83 (95% CI 0.63-1.09, P = 0.17). There was significant clinical heterogeneity among primary studies. HF medication could be directly altered in three study interventions, and two of these had a statistically significant effect on all-cause hospitalizations. The pooled effect estimate of TM interventions on all-cause hospitalizations and all-cause death in patients with recently decompensated heart failure was neutral.