eHealth Self-Management Interventions for Patients With Liver Cirrhosis: Scoping Review.

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Chronic Disease Management
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• Liver cirrhosis (LC) requires effective patient self-management to reduce hospitalizations and mortality.
• Current self-management strategies are often unsustainable and inadequately address cognitive impairments.
• eHealth interventions offer potential for continuous monitoring and personalized support in chronic conditions, but evidence for LC is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically identify and describe existing eHealth self-management interventions for patients with liver cirrhosis.
• To analyze the core components of these interventions.
• To summarize the reported outcome variables and assess the current evidence base.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review was conducted using five electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Web of Science) for studies published between 2013 and June 2025.
• Included were interventional studies targeting adults with LC and employing eHealth-based self-management.
• Data extraction and descriptive synthesis followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA-ScR guidelines.

Main Results:

• Nine studies met the inclusion criteria, utilizing smartphone apps or telephone interventions.
• Key components included symptom monitoring (100%), lifestyle behavior modification (63%), and information provision (63%).
• Outcomes were assessed across physical, psychosocial, clinical, self-management, and implementation domains, with some studies reporting reduced hospital admissions.

Conclusions:

• Diverse eHealth interventions for LC self-management exist, incorporating essential components like symptom monitoring.
• The current evidence base is limited by small sample sizes and heterogeneous study designs and outcome measures.
• Future research should focus on rigorous randomized trials and standardized frameworks to evaluate effectiveness and support clinical implementation.