Table 2 Overview of included articles grouped by the type of telemedicine interventions and outcomes

Remote monitoring (RM)

Study

Intervention

Outcomes

Results

Risk of bias

Quality of Life

Harrington 2014 [29]

RM-CAPD

N = 6

Patient satisfaction

5.2 on Likert scale (1-10)

Moderate

SONG-PD clinical outcomes

Milan-Manani 2020 [21]

RM-APD

N = 35

Peritonitis Transfer to HD (duration not specified)

N.S. difference 0 in intervention group, 1 in control group

Moderate

Corzo 2020 [34]

RPM-APD

N = 148

Transfer to HD (>30d)

Lower in intervention group (p = 0.03)

Moderate

Mortality

N.S. difference, only reported for the non-matched population

Cost-effectiveness

Milan-Manani 2019 [20]

RM-APD

N = 43

Hospital savings

€9130 for personnel and €5810 for logistics (p < 0.01)

Serious

Hospitalizations and health-care consumption

Sanabria 2019 [36]

RPM-APD

N = 65

Hospitalizations

Less in intervention group (p = 0.029)

Low

Number of hospital days

Less in intervention group (p = 0.028)

Milan-Manani 2020 [21]

RM-APD

N = 35

Hospitalizations

N.S. difference in all-cause

Less disease-specific hospitalizations in intervention group (p = 0.022)

Moderate

Frequency of visits

N.S. difference in all-causeLess urgent visits due to overhydration (p = 0.042)

Milan-Manani 2019 [20]

RM-APD

N = 43

In-person visits

Lower in the intervention group (p < 0.01)

Serious

Remote monitoring (RM) with additional features

Quality of Life

Dey 2016 [35]

RM-APD + access to medical data and online questionnaires N = 22

Quality of life (KDQOL-36)

N.S. difference

Serious

Patient satisfaction (QUEST)

N.S. difference

Magnus 2017 [33]

RBM-APD

+videochat and access to educational material

N = 200

Patient satisfaction

80.1% of participants were either satisfied or completely satisfied with the intervention

Critical

SONG-PD clinical outcomes

Chaudhuri 2020 [31]

RM-APD + viewing laboratory results, medication prescriptions, supply ordersN = 2284

Transfer to HD (>6wks)

Lower in frequent users versus non-users (p = 0.001)

Moderate

Nayak 2012 [17]

RM-APD + send pictures, view healthcare-records and schedule appointments N = 246

Peritonitis

N.S. difference

Moderate

Exit-site infection

N.S. difference

Bunch 2020 [19]

RPM-APD + videochat N = 1023

Peritonitis rates

N.S. difference

Serious

Magnus 2017 [33]

RBM-APD + videochat and access to educational material N = 200

Exit-site infections

10.5% post-intervention and 7.3% pre-intervention (no statistical analysis

Critical

Cost-effectiveness

Lew 2019 [15]

RPM-APD + videochat N = 125

Overall costs of care

N.S. difference (except for in certain subgroups)

Serious

Hospitalizations and health-care consumption

Chaudhuri 2020 [31]

RM-APD + viewing laboratory results, medication prescriptions, supply orders N = 2284

Hospitalizations

Lower in frequent users versus non-users (p ≤ 0.001)

Moderate

Number of hospital days

Lower in frequent users versus non-users (p ≤ 0.001)

Lew 2019 [15]

RPM-APD + videochat N = 125

Hospitalizations and length of hospitalization

Less for RBM-collected weight and higher for RBM-collected blood pressure

Serious

Bunch 2020 [19]

RPM-APD + videochat N = 1023

Teleconsultations

Higher in the intervention group (p < 0.01)

Serious

On site evaluations

Lower in the intervention group (p < 0.01)

Magnus 2017 [33]

RBM-APD + videochat and access to educational material N = 200

Hospitalizations

20.8% pre-intervention and 15.1% post-intervention (no statistical analysis)

Critical

Online bi-directional communication between patients and healthcare team

Quality of Life

Cao 2018 [28]

Internet-based instant messaging N = 80

Patient-satisfaction

Higher in the intervention group (p < 0.001)

Unclear

Li 2014 [30]

Post-discharge nurse-led telephone support N = 69

QoL (KDQOL-SF)

N.S. difference

Unclear

Patient satisfaction

N.S. difference

Kiberd 2018 [32]

Online communication between patient and healthcare team via web-based portal N = 17

Quality of life (CQI and EQ-5D)

N.S. difference as compared to baseline

Critical

Patient satisfaction (Likert scale (1-10))

6.5 on Likert-type scale

SONG-PD clinical outcomes

Cao 2018 [28]

Internet-based instant messaging N = 80

Exit-site infection

N.S. difference

Unclear

Peritonitis

Higher in intervention group (60 cases in 80 patients (75%) vs 40 cases in 80 patients (50%) statistical significance not reported)

Mortality

Lower in intervention group (p = 0.058)

Transfer to HD (was not a pre-specified outcome)

N.S. difference

Li 2014 [30]

Post-discharge nurse-led telephone support N = 69

Peritonitis

N.S. difference

Unclear

Catheter-infections

N.S. difference

Polanco 2020 [16]

Telemedicine-facilitated PD protocol (daily transfer of dialysis records and pictures, monthly contact by telephone N = 913

Transfer to HD (duration not specified)

N.S. difference

Serious

Peritonitis

N.S. difference

Viglino 2020 [18]

Video-assisted PD N = 15

Peritonitis

N.S. difference

Serious

Time free from first peritonitis

N.S. difference

Transfer to HD (duration not specified)

N = 3 (20%) in intervention group versus 17(18%) in the control group (no statistical analysis performed)

Hospitalizations and health-care consumption

Cao 2018 [28]

Internet-based instant messaging N = 80

Hospitalizations

N.S. difference

Unclear

Li 2014 [30]

Post-discharge nurse-led telephone support N = 69

Readmissions

N.S. difference

Unclear

Clinical visits

Less in intervention group (71% vs 47%, p = 0.039)

Polanco 2020 [16]

Telemedicine-facilitated PD protocol (daily transfer of dialysis records and pictures, monthly contact by telephone

N = 913

Hospitalizations

N.S. difference

Serious