Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30412116›Full record

SynthesisMedicine2018

Evaluation of the clinical outcomes of telehealth for managing diabetes: A PRISMA-compliant meta-analysis.

Cong Wu, Zixiang Wu, Lingfei Yang, Wenjun Zhu, Meng Zhang, Qian Zhu, Xiaoying Chen, Yongmiao Pan

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 10 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
50citing papers in PubMed, 10 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
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

50 citing papers in PubMed, 10 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.

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  15. Virtual Diabetes "Boot Camp": An Innovative Model for Improving Glycemic Control.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2025
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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

8 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Cong WuDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Zixiang WuDepartment of Thoracic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Lingfei YangDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Wenjun ZhuDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Meng ZhangDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Qian ZhuDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Xiaoying ChenDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Yongmiao PanDepartment of Medical Quality Management, The Women's Hospital.
Women's Hospital · USSecond Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe objective of this study was to systematically review the literature and perform a meta-analysis comparing the clinical outcomes of telehealth and usual care in the management of diabetes.

methodsMultiple strategies, including database searches (MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, EMBASE, and CINAHL), searches of related journals and reference tracking, were employed to widely search publications from January 2005 to December 2017. The change in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels was assessed as the primary outcome, and changes in blood pressure, blood lipids, body mass index (BMI), and quality of life were examined as secondary outcomes.

resultsNineteen randomized controlled trials (n = 6294 participants) were selected. Telehealth was more effective than usual care in controlling the glycemic index in diabetes patients (weighted mean difference = -0.22%; 95% confidence intervals, -0.28 to -0.15; P < .001). This intervention showed promise in reducing systolic blood pressure levels (P < .001) and diastolic blood pressure levels (P < .001), while no benefits were observed in the control of BMI (P = .79). For total cholesterol and quality of life, telehealth was similar or superior to usual care.

conclusionTelehealth holds promise for improving the clinical effectiveness of diabetes management. Targeting patients with higher HbA1c (≥9%) levels and delivering more frequent intervention (at least 6 times 1 year) may achieve greater improvement.

Indexed as

TelemedicineBlood GlucoseBody Mass IndexCholesterolDiabetes MellitusGlycated HemoglobinHumansOutcome Assessment, Health CareQuality of LifeRandomized Controlled Trials as TopicBlood GlucoseCholesterolGlycated Hemoglobinhemoglobin A1c protein, human

Identifiers

PMID30412116
PMCPMC6221638
OpenAlexW2898519972

What OpenQuestion 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 OpenQuestion graph.