Abstract

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of home-based cardiac telerehabilitation in patients with heart failure.

Design: This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials were designed and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Methods: Two researchers independently screened eligible studies. The Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions was used to assess the risk of bias within the included studies. A fixed- or random-effects meta-analysis model was used to determine the mean difference, based on the results of the heterogeneity test.

Data sources: A librarian-designed search of the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, CBM, CNKI and Wanfang databases was conducted to identify studies in English or Chinese on randomised controlled trials up to 15 August 2022.

Results: A total of 2291 studies were screened. The meta-analysis included data from 16 studies representing 4557 participants. The results indicated that home-based cardiac telerehabilitation could improve heart rate, VO2 peak, 6-minute walk distance, quality of life and reduce readmission rates. No significant differences were observed in the left ventricular ejection fraction percentages between the home-based cardiac telerehabilitation and usual care groups. Compared with centre-based cardiac rehabilitation, home-based cardiac telerehabilitation showed no significant improvement in outcome indicators.

Conclusion: Patients with heart failure benefit from home-based cardiac telerehabilitation intervention. With the rapid development of information and communication technology, home-based cardiac telerehabilitation has great potential and may be used as an adjunct or substitute for centre-based cardiac rehabilitation.