The impact of remote care on the quality of care of pregnant women with diabetes: a systematic review protocol
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Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background: Diabetes during pregnancy, whether newly diagnosed gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) or pre-existing diabetes mellitus (DM), is associated with increased maternal and neonatal risks. Remote care has shown promise in managing diabetes in the general population, however, its impact on the quality of antenatal care for pregnant women with diabetes remains unclear. Considering the growing adoption of remote care globally, it is vital to understand its impact on the quality of care. This review aims to evaluate the impact of remote care on the quality of care for pregnant women with diabetes. This manuscript describes the protocol for the review.
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, MIDIRS, Scopus, Cochrane, and Global Health databases will be searched to identify studies published from 2005 to 2025. Eligible studies will include original empirical research, encompassing both interventional (e.g., randomised controlled trials) and observational designs (e.g., cohort and cross-sectional studies), assessing remote care, including both virtual consultations and remote monitoring, for pregnant women with GDM, Type 1 or 2 DM. Quality of care will be assessed using the Institute of Medicine healthcare quality framework: patient-centredness, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, timeliness, and equity. Screening and data extraction will be conducted by two independent reviewers. The quality of the studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools. Subgroup analyses will be undertaken to explore variation by diabetes and intervention type. This protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline.
Discussion: The findings of this review will provide evidence on the impact of remote care on the quality of care for pregnant women with pre-existing DM and GDM. This will also contribute to identification of clinical patient safety indicators. Strengthening the evidence will support the development of evidence-based implementation strategies and inform policy decisions to ensure safe, effective, and patient-centred use of remote care interventions.
PROSPERO Registration number: CRD420251024685
Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, MIDIRS, Scopus, Cochrane, and Global Health databases will be searched to identify studies published from 2005 to 2025. Eligible studies will include original empirical research, encompassing both interventional (e.g., randomised controlled trials) and observational designs (e.g., cohort and cross-sectional studies), assessing remote care, including both virtual consultations and remote monitoring, for pregnant women with GDM, Type 1 or 2 DM. Quality of care will be assessed using the Institute of Medicine healthcare quality framework: patient-centredness, effectiveness, safety, efficiency, timeliness, and equity. Screening and data extraction will be conducted by two independent reviewers. The quality of the studies will be assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools. Subgroup analyses will be undertaken to explore variation by diabetes and intervention type. This protocol follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) guideline.
Discussion: The findings of this review will provide evidence on the impact of remote care on the quality of care for pregnant women with pre-existing DM and GDM. This will also contribute to identification of clinical patient safety indicators. Strengthening the evidence will support the development of evidence-based implementation strategies and inform policy decisions to ensure safe, effective, and patient-centred use of remote care interventions.
PROSPERO Registration number: CRD420251024685
Date Acceptance
2026-06-14
Citation
Systematic Reviews
ISSN
2046-4053
Publisher
BMC
Journal / Book Title
Systematic Reviews
Copyright Statement
Copyright This paper is embargoed until publication. Once published the Version of Record (VoR) will be available on immediate open access.
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Publication Status
Accepted
Date Publish Online
2026-06-23