Review Article

Telemonitoring Interventions in COPD Patients: Overview of Systematic Reviews

Table 3

Quality of evidence in included reviews with GRADE.

OutcomeSystematic reviewN/nEffect (95%)GRADEQuality of evidence
Risk of biasInconsistencyIndirectnessImprecisionPublication bias

Mortality outcomes
MortalityHong and Lee [16]8 (1518)RR 0.85 [0.64, 1.13]–2–1000L
Sul et al. [18]7 (919)RR 0.89 [0.60, 1.34]–1–1000L
McLean et al. [23]3 (503)RR 1.05 [0.63, 1.75]–100–10L

Exacerbation outcomes
HospitalizationsHong and Lee [16]14 (2007)RR 0.88 [0.80, 0.97]–1–1000L
McCabe et al. [20]1 (239)OR 1.60 [0.80, 3.20]–10–10L
McLean et al. [23]4 (604)OR 0.46 [0.33, 0.65]–10000M
Exacerbation rateSul et al. [18]6 (NR)RR 0.67 [0.31, 1.42]–100–10L
McCabe et al. [20]1 (239)OR 1.40 [0.70, 2.80]–10–10L
Emergency room visitsHong and Lee [16]11 (1282)RR 0.63 [0.55, 0.72]–1–1000L
McLean et al. [23]3 (449)OR 0.27 [0.11, 0.66]–100–10L

Quality of life
SGRQ total scoresHong and Lee [16]4 (604)MD –0.21 [–3.29, 2.86]–100–10L
Sul et al. [18]9 (522)MD 0.14 [–3.96, 4.23]–1–10–10VL
Deng et al. [19]6 (712)SMD –0.36 [–0.51, 0.06]–1–1000L
McCabe et al. [20]3 (472)MD –0.22 [–0.40, –0.03]–1–1000L
McLean et al. [23]2 (253)MD –6.57 [–13.62, 0.48]–1–10–10VL

Exercise capacity
6MWDDeng et al. [19]7 (570)SMD 0.30 [0.00, 0.60]–1–1000L
Lundell et al. [22]5 (NR)MD –1.3 [–8.10, 5.50]–1–10–10VL

NR: not reported; -2: very serious; -1: serious; 0: not serious; /: inapplicability; VL: very low; L: low; M: moderate.