Table 3.

Intensity of Included Transitional Care Interventions

Intensity and Trial, Year	Structured Home Visits	Telephone Follow-up	Clinic Follow-up	Telecare Only	Telecare + Other Types of Follow-up	Details
Low intensity
Riegel et al,37 2006		X				11 RCTs had a prearranged telephone follow-up.37–44,53,56,62 Patients received 3 to 16 telephone calls (over a 2- to 12-month period).
Domingues et al,56 2011		X
DeBusk et al,38 2004		X
Laramee et al,39 2003		X
Wakefield et al,40 2008		X
Dunagan et al,41 2005		X
Rainville et al,42 1999		X
Tsuyuki et al,53 2004		X
Barth et al,43 2001		X
Lopez Cabezas et al,62 2006		X
Chaudhry et al,44 2010		X
Doughty et al,70 2002			X			In 2 RCTs, follow-up was provided in an outpatient clinic by the family physician or a cardiologist or multidisciplinary team.56,69 Patients visited the clinic7 to 10 times (over a 12- to 18-month period).
Jaarsma et al,57 2008			X
Moderate intensity
Stewart et al,9 1998; Inglis et al,81 2004	X					4 RCTs used prearranged home visits9,34,70,71 with a total of 2 to 9 visits (over a 6- to 12-month period).
Barker et al,71 2012	X
Naylor et al,35 2004	X
Kwok et al,72 2008	X
Nucifora et al,59 2006		X	X			8 RCTs combined a structured telephone call with follow-up in a clinic.44,45,53,57–59,62,63 They included 1 to 10 telephone calls and 1 to 8 visits to the clinic (over a 6- to 24-month period).
Del Sindaco et al,60 2007		X	X
Cleland et al,58 2005		X	X
Ekman et al,64 1998		X	X
Atienza et al,63 2004		X	X
Kasper et al,45 2002		X	X
Angermann et al,46 2012		X	X
Ducharme et al,54 2005		X	X
Dar et al,66 2009				X		2 RCTs featured telecare without prearranged direct contact with patients.47,66 The vital signs transmit-ted daily consisted of weight,47,66 blood pressure, pulse, and oxygen saturation.66 Patients also answered questions on CHF symptoms via telephone (automated voice response).47,66
Goldberg et al,47 2002				X
High intensity
Harrison et al,55 2002	X	X				6 RCTs used structured home visits combined with telephone follow-up.8,10,47,54,66,67 Patients had a total of 1 to 3 home visits (over a 3- to 12-month period).
Rich et al,48 1993	X	X
Rich et al,8 1995	X	X
Blue et al,67 2001	X	X
Leventhal et al,68 2011	X	X
Jaarsma et al,10 1999	X	X
Cline et al,65 1998	X		X			2 RCTs combined home visits with follow-up in a clinic.64,72 Patients received 1 home visit and 4 to 6 in-clinic follow-ups (over a 6- to 12-month period).
Thompson et al,73 2005	X		X
Adlbrecht et al,69 2011; Berger et al,82 2010	X	X	X			3 RCTs combined home visits with telephone calls and a visit to a clinic.48,56,68 The total number of home visits ranged from 1 to 3 (over a 3- to 12-month period).
Pugh et al,49 2001; Blaha et al,83 2000	X	X	X
Jaarsma et al,57 2008	X	X	X
Giordano et al,61 2009					X	5 RCTs combined telecare with prearranged direct contact with patients50–52,58,61 such as prearranged telephone calls,51,61 video calls and home visits,50,52 or visits to a clinic.58 Vital signs (weight, blood pressure, oxygen saturation, heart sounds, pulse, and electrocardiographic findings) were transmitted daily50,51,58 or at a scheduled time.52,61
Bowles et al,50 2011					X
Kulshreshtha et al,51 2010					X
Pekmezaris et al,52 2012					X
Cleland et al,58 2005					X

CHF = congestive heart failure; RCT = randomized controlled trial.