To systematically evaluate the effects of remote transitional care on quality of life, depressive symptoms, and readmission rates in stroke patients through meta-analysis.
Key Findings:
Six randomized controlled trials were included in the meta-analysis. Remote transitional care significantly improved depressive symptoms in stroke patients (SMD = −0.28, 95% CI −0.44 to −0.12, p = 0.0005).
No significant benefits were observed for quality of life (SMD = 0.04, 95% CI −0.02 to 0.10, p = 0.19) or readmission rates (RR = 1.21, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.78, p = 0.34).
Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the findings.
Interpretation:
Remote transitional care significantly improves depressive symptoms in stroke patients, but its effects on quality of life and readmission rates remain uncertain.
Limitations:
Five studies had 'some concerns' regarding risk of bias, and one study was rated as 'high risk' based on the risk of bias assessment.
Conclusion:
Future high-quality, large-sample randomized controlled trials are needed to further validate the effectiveness of remote transitional care and explore optimal intervention modalities and implementation strategies.
