ABSTRACT
Objective To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of diabetes self-management education through telemedicine on glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Methods Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that assessed the effectiveness of remote diabetes self-management education in patients with diabetes were systematically reviewed using multiple electronic databases. The searching time was from database establishment to May 2015. These articles were analyzed after evaluation of their quality. Results Eight RCTs were included involving 2 047 patients.The results of Meta-analysis showed the effectiveness of remote DMSE on reduction of HbA1c of patients with type 2 diabetes was more significant than that of the control group [WMD=-0.50,95%CI (-0.88,-0.12),P 0.05]. Conclusions Remote DMSE is effective to improve the glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes,while the effect on patients with type 1 diabetes is still not certain. Large-scale and multi-centered RCTs are needed to confirm its effectiveness.