Remote home management improves the quality of life and attitudes of patients with chronic kidney disease

He T, Liu X, Li Y, et al.  Remote home management for chronic kidney disease: A systematic review  Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare. 2016 June;0(0):1-11.

Review question

Does remote home management improve the quality of life, blood pressure and attitudes/behaviours of adult patients with chronic kidney disease?

Background

Chronic kidney disease is a common long-term condition associated with high prevalence and costs, and exacerbated by limited healthcare resources.

Numerous advances have been made in the diagnoses and medical care for patients with chronic kidney disease, but significant improvements in their conditions and long-term survival have not been achieved.

Remote home management, using information technology to enhance patients’ self-management of the disease in a home setting, may help these patients understand their conditions and improve their health status. However, evidence of its value needs to be gathered.

How the review was done

A detailed search of a number of electronic databases for studies published up to January 2015 was conducted. Studies that focused on the effects of remote home management on adult patients with chronic kidney disease were included in the review.

A total of 2,728 studies were identified in searches, and eight were included in the review after assessments for eligibility.

This review was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Science and Technology Major Projects, The National Key Technology R&D Program, and the Project of Technology Department of Hunan Province.

What the researchers found

The review found that quality of life with remote home management was higher than the quality of life with traditional care. Remote home management also resulted in decreased hospital readmissions, emergency room visits and number of days in the hospital.

Evidence of the effects of remote home management on blood pressure, which is important in lowering chronic kidney disease morbidity and mortality, was inconclusive.

Remote home management also had favourable effects in influencing patients’ attitudes and compliance towards self-management.

Conclusion

The review found that remote home management may be an effective disease-management strategy for improving the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease and influencing their attitudes and behaviours. Future research should focus on blood pressure and cost-effectiveness for the entire population of patients with the disease.