Kwaah, Patrick A

Background and Objectives: Heart failure (HF) represents a major public health challenge worldwide, with rising prevalence, high morbidity and mortality rates, and substantial healthcare costs. Non-invasive telemonitoring has emerged as a promising adjunct in HF management, yet its clinical effectiveness remains unclear. Materials and Methods: In this systematic review, we summarize randomized controlled trials (RCTs) between 2004 and 2024 examining the efficacy of non-invasive telemonitoring on mortality, readmission, and quality of life (QoL) in HF. In addition, we characterize the heterogeneity of features of different telemonitoring interventions. Results: In total, 32 RCTs were included, comprising 13,294 participants. While some individual studies reported benefits, non-invasive telemonitoring demonstrated mixed effects on mortality, readmission rates, and QoL. The most common modality for interfacing with patients was by mobile application (53%), followed by web portals (22%), and stand-alone devices (19%). Periodic feedback (63%) was more common than continuous feedback (31%) or on-demand feedback (6%). Clinician reviews of patient telemonitoring data was event-triggered (44%) more commonly than based on a prespecified timeline (38%). In most designs (90%), patients played a passive role in telemonitoring. Conclusions: Non-invasive telemonitoring interventions for HF exhibited considerable variation in duration and system design and had a low rate of patient engagement. Future work should focus on identifying telemonitoring-responsive subgroups and refining telemonitoring strategies to complement traditional HF care.