Influence of synchronous primary care telemedicine versus in-person visits on diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia outcomes: a systematic review
Open accessAbstract
Background: Telemedicine can be used to manage various health conditions, but there is a need to investigate its effectiveness for chronic disease management in the primary care setting. This study compares the effect of synchronous telemedicine versus in-person primary care visits on patient clinical outcomes. Methods: A systematic review of studies published in PubMed and Web of Science between 1996 and January 2021 was performed using keywords related to telemedicine, diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia. Included studies compared synchronous telemedicine versus in-person visits with a primary care clinician, and examined outcomes of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), blood pressure, and/or lipid levels. Results: Of 1724 citations screened, 7 publications met our inclusion criteria. Included studies were published between 2000 and 2018. Three studies were conducted in the United States, 2 in Spain, 1 in Sweden, and 1 in the United Kingdom. The telemedicine interventions investigated were multifaceted. All included synchronous visits with a primary care provider through videoconferencing and/or telephone, combined with other components such as asynchronous patient data transmission. Five studies reported on HbA1c changes, 5 on blood pressure changes, and 3 on changes in lipid levels. Compared to usual care with in-person visits, telemedicine was associated with greater reductions in HbA1c at 6 months and similar HbA1c outcomes at 12 months. Telemedicine conferred no significant differences in blood pressure and lipid levels compared to in-person clinic visits. Conclusions: A systematic review of the literature found few studies comparing clinical outcomes resulting from synchronous telemedicine versus in-person office visits, but the existing literature showed that in the primary care setting, telemedicine was not inferior to in-person visits for the management of diabetes, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia. These results hold promise for continued use of telemedicine for chronic disease management.
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The lack of agreement of this result with previous related studies may be because the patients' enrollment criterion was T2DM and most interventions focused on reducing HbA1c with much less attention on BMI, LDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, resulting in poor intervention effects.
“This result did not agree with those of previous related studies,43 44 probably because the patients’ enrollment criterion was T2DM and most of the interventions focused on reducing HbA1c with much less attention on BMI, LDL-cholesterol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, thereby resulting in poor intervention effects.”
From Effectiveness of synchronous teleconsultation for patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2023) · cites this paper as [43]
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References 30 · Cited by 34
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- [2]What is Telehealth?. 2018. Available at: https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.18.0268. Accessed July 19, 2021. · DOI
- Authors
- Mabeza, R. M. S., Maynard, K., & Tarn, D. M.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- Brown University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mabeza, Russyan Mark S.
- Venue
- BMC Primary Care
- Published
- 2022-03-21
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 52-52
- ISSN
- 1471-2296 (ISSN-L)
- 2731-4553
- PMC
- PMC8936383
- OpenAlex
- W4225845954
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 7
- FWCI
- 1.19
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Family Practice (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Telemedicine and Telehealth Implementation
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Primary Care and Health Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Healthcare Systems and Technology
- Keywords
- telemedicine, synchronous telehealth, diabetes management, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, HbA1c, blood pressure, serum lipids, chronic disease management, videoconferencing, telephone consultation
- MeSH terms
- Chronic Disease, Diabetes Mellitus, Glycated Hemoglobin, Humans, Hyperlipidemias, Hypertension, Lipids, Primary Health Care, Telemedicine
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