SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Aging
Sec. Interventions in Aging
This article is part of the Research TopicArtificial Intelligence in Aging: Innovations and Applications for Elderly CareView all 10 articles
Impact of Digital Health Interventions on Quality of Life and Mental Health in Older Adults with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Provisionally accepted
- 1Civil Aviation Flight University of China, Guanghan, China
- 2China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, China
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Background: Chronic diseases significantly impact the health of older adults globally. While digital health technologies offer new avenues for management, existing evidence remains inconsistent with methodological limitations. Methods: We systematically searched eight databases, including PubMed and Web of Science (from inception to July 31, 2025), for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving patients aged 60 and above with chronic conditions. A random-effects model was used to synthesize data to evaluate the impact of digital health interventions on general quality of life (QoL), disease-specific QoL, and mental health. The quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE system. Results: Fifteen RCTs (n=3253) were included. The meta-analysis showed that digital health interventions significantly improved general QoL (SMD=0.54, 95% CI [0.30, 0.78]), disease-specific QoL (SMD=0.39, 95% CI [0.17, 0.60]), and mental health status (SMD=0.36, 95% CI [0.22, 0.50]) in older adults with chronic diseases. Although heterogeneity was observed in some outcomes, sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the results. The GRADE assessment indicated that the quality of evidence for mental health improvement was high. Conclusion: Digital health interventions effectively enhance the quality of life and mental health of older adults with chronic diseases, demonstrating clear clinical significance. The evidence supports the integration of digital health technologies into routine care systems, particularly standardized interventions for patients with respiratory and metabolic diseases. Systematic Review Registration: [www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero], identifier [ CRD420251107861 ].
Keywords: Chronic Disease, digital health intervention, Mental Health, Meta-analysis, older adults, Quality of Life, randomized controlled trial
Received: 01 Nov 2025; Accepted: 16 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hu, Wang, Yao, Liao and Chen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Enliang Hu
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