Evidence mapPaperPMID 35420331Full record

SynthesisSupportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer2022

Nurse-led telehealth interventions for symptom management in patients with cancer receiving systemic or radiation therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Chanel Kwok, Charlena Degen, Narges Moradi, Dawn Stacey

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
32citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.6field-weighted citation impact, top 4% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Telehealth education alone is not enough: toward closed-loop supportive oncology.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  9. Nurse-led remote symptom management for chemotherapy toxicity and quality of life in lymphoma: a quasi-experimental study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  10. Telehealth education for patients with cancer: a standalone solution for symptom relief?Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  11. Review
  12. Article
  13. Patient perspectives on nurse-led follow-up calls after head and neck surgery.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. PanSupport: a community model of cancer supportive care provision.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Chanel KwokDepartment of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7621-7327
Charlena DegenSchool of Epidemiology and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.
Narges MoradiSchool of Nursing, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3713-6967
Dawn StaceySchool of Nursing, University of Ottawa and Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada. dstacey@uottawa.ca.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2681-741X
University of Ottawa · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposePatients receiving cancer treatments experience many treatment-related symptoms. Telehealth is increasingly being used to support symptom management. The overall aim was to determine the effectiveness of nurse-led telehealth symptom management interventions for patients with cancer receiving systemic or radiation therapy compared to usual care on health service use, quality of life, and symptom severity.

methodsA systematic review was conducted following the Cochrane Handbook and PRISMA reporting guidelines. Five electronic databases were searched. Two independent reviewers screened articles and extracted data. Meta-analysis was performed if data were clinically and methodologically homogeneous. Subanalysis was conducted on reactive and scheduled telehealth interventions.

resultsOf 7749 citations screened, 10 studies were included (8 randomized control trials, 2 quasi-experimental). Five were reactive telehealth interventions with patient-initiated contact and five evaluated scheduled telehealth interventions initiated by nurses. Compared to usual care (typically patient-initiated calls), nurse-led telehealth interventions for symptom management showed no statistically significant difference in hospitalizations, emergency department visits, or unscheduled clinic visits. Two of three studies of reactive telehealth interventions showed improved quality of life. All telehealth interventions showed reduction in the severity of most symptoms. Pain severity was significantly reduced (standard mean difference - 0.54; 95% CI - 0.88, - 0.19). Significant heterogeneity prevented meta-analysis for most outcomes.

conclusionFew studies evaluated nurse-led telehealth interventions for cancer symptom management. Compared to usual care, patients exposed to telehealth interventions had reduced symptom severity and no difference in health services use. Future research should focus on better reporting intervention characteristics and consistently measuring outcomes.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsTelemedicineHumansNurse's RoleQuality of LifeSelf CareChemotherapyNursesOncologyRadiation therapySymptom managementTelehealth

Identifiers

PMID35420331
PMCPMC9008678
OpenAlexW4223917247

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.