eHealth Solutions for Symptom Assessment and Monitoring in Adults With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review.

AIMS: This systematic review examined eHealth solutions used to assess and monitor symptoms among adults with CKD.

DESIGN

A systematic review was conducted and reported in accordance with the PRISMA checklist. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD4202452973).

METHODS

Seven databases were searched for English language studies that reported eHealth solutions for symptom assessment and monitoring in CKD between January 2000 and May 2024. The methodological quality of studies was evaluated using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool and a co-design evaluation tool.

RESULTS

Thirty-eight studies involving 4345 participants with CKD were included. Most of the included studies were non-randomised controlled trials (n = 16) and non-experimental studies (n = 13); only a few studies (n = 9) were randomised controlled trials. Current eHealth solutions varied in technologies and functions but were primarily focused on self-monitoring (n = 22), data recording (n = 14), education (n = 13), providing information (n = 10) and reminders/alerts (n = 10). There was limited evidence from few intervention studies involving eHealth solutions showing improvements in CKD symptoms and/or health-related quality of life. Among the 14 studies that assessed user satisfaction, satisfaction was high, but challenges and barriers to implementing these solutions were reported.

CONCLUSION

eHealth solutions have the potential to facilitate symptom assessment and monitoring for adults with CKD, but further high-quality experimental studies are required to provide better evidence in practice.

SUMMARY: eHealth symptom assessment and monitoring are increasing in practice. While some adults are willing and able to use eHealth solutions, barriers remain due to limited digital health literacy. As few randomised controlled trials exist, further studies are needed to evaluate the benefits of reducing chronic kidney disease symptom burden.

PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution.