Telenursing as an Effective Ally for Improving Patient Outcomes in Diabetes? An Umbrella Review.
Marika Lo Monaco, Arianna Profeta, Salvatore Corrao
PMID 40607766WHAT IT FOUND
Nurse-led telehealth for adults with diabetes was usually linked with better blood sugar control, self-management and less hospital use.
Evidence quality was low, and effects varied by tool and diabetes type. Use it as an adjunct, not a replacement.
Key findings
01Most included reviews reported lower HbA1c with telenursing than usual care, but not all found a significant effect.
02The reviewed telenursing programmes were reported to improve self-management, therapy adherence and disease awareness.
03Some reviews reported fewer hospital admissions, emergency visits and shorter stays, but long-term cost savings were uncertain.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The evidence is an overview of systematic reviews, not a single trial, and most included reviews were rated low or critically low quality. Interventions varied widely, from phone calls and texts to apps, web platforms and video, so the paper cannot say which telenursing method works best. Many reviews mixed type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and direct comparisons were limited, so effects may differ by diabetes type. Hypoglycemia, weight, BMI and quality of life findings were inconsistent or poorly reported. The review did not pool results statistically, so it cannot provide a single overall effect estimate.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The work was funded by the European Commission.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that any telenursing service will improve diabetes outcomes. The positive findings come from low-quality reviews, and some outcomes, including HbA1c, were null or uncertain.