Impact of virtual care on health-related quality of life in children with diabetes mellitus: a systematic review protocol.

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is the most common endocrine disorder in children, and the prevalence of paediatric type 1 and type 2 diabetes continue to rise globally. Diabetes clinical care programs pivoted to virtual care with the COVID-19 pandemic-driven social distancing measures. Yet, the impact of virtual care on health-related quality of life in children living with diabetes remains unclear. This protocol reports on the methods that will be implemented to conduct a systematic review to assess the health-related quality of life and metabolic health impacts of virtual diabetes care. We will search MEDLINE, Embase, EMCare, PsycInfo, Web of Science, and the grey literature for eligible studies. We will screen title, abstract, and full-text papers for potential inclusion and assess the risk of bias and the overall confidence in the evidence using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. A meta-analysis will be conducted if two studies report similar populations, study designs, methods, and outcomes.This systematic review will summarise the health-related quality of life outcomes for virtual diabetes care delivery models. No ethics approval is required for this systematic review protocol as it does not include patient data. The systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and presented at international conferences. CRD42021235646.