The purpose of this study was to examine whether the use of consumer health information technologies (CHITs) has an impact on outcomes of patients in the self-management of heart failure (HF).

A literature search of six electronic databases was conducted to identify relevant reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for the analysis. Mortality, hospitalization and length of hospital stay were meta-analyzed and other patient outcomes were synthesized using a narrative approach.

The literature search identified 50 studies, representing 43 RCTs, comparing the use of CHITs with usual care for HF patients. The meta-analysis showed that the use of CHITs reduced the risk of HF-caused mortality (relative risk (RR) = 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.54–0.91), p = 0.007), lowered the risk of HF-caused hospitalization (RR = 0.80, 95% CI: 0.66–0.96), p = 0.020), and shortened HF-caused length of hospital stay (mean difference = –0.52, 95% CI: –0.77 to –0.27, p < 0.00), but not all-cause mortality, all-cause hospitalization or all-cause length of hospital stay, compared with usual care. The narrative synthesis indicated that only a small proportion of the trials reported positive effects of CHITs over usual care.

Evidence from RCTs presents mixed results on the impacts of CHITs for HF management. Further studies are required to assess whether and how CHITs would play a role in enhancing health care and patient outcomes and what specific CHIT features and functions are relevant to different HF treatment goals and self-care objectives.