Table 3. Summary of Meta-analyses on Digital Technology-Enabled Cardiac Rehabilitation

Study	Study population	Intervention	Control	Number of study/sample size	Key clinical outcomes
Braver et al., 2023 [16]	CAD	mHealth-integrated disease management programs	Usual care or non-digital programs	18 studies; N = 1,009-1,514	All-cause readmission: RR 0.68 (0.50-0.91); cardiac readmission: RR 0.55 (0.44-0.68); ED visit: RR 0.37 (0.26-0.54); mortality/MACE: NS
Ansari et al., 2025 [17]	CAD	Digital cardiac rehabilitation	Traditional center-based cardiac rehabilitation	13 studies; N = 1,850	QoL: Mean deviation 0.10 (0.05-0.15); rehospitalization: RR 0.86 (0.66-1.11); MACE RR: 0.67 (0.42-1.07)
Zhou et al., 2024 [18]	CVD	Smartphone-assisted cardiac rehabilitation	Usual care or conventional CR	14 RCTs; N = 1,962	VO2peak: WMD 1.32 (0.82-1.81); adherence: RR 1.62 (1.21-2.17); other outcomes: NS
Xu et al., 2019 [22]	CR participants	Mobile application–based CR support	Standard CR or usual care	4 RCTs; N = 185	CR completion/adherence: RR 1.38 (1.16-1.65); functional and QoL outcomes” mixed
Yu et al., 2023 [19]	CR participants	eHealth interventions (wearables, web, apps)	Usual care or no digital intervention	18 studies	MVPA: SMD 0.18 (0.07-0.28); cardiovascular outcomes NS
Luijk et al., 2024 [20]	Post-CR patients	Digital interventions for PA maintenance	Usual care / no structured maintenance	20 RCTs; N = 1,801	Objective PA: NS; subjective PA: SMD 0.37 (0.05-0.69)
Chong et al., 2021 [21]	CAD/CVD	Technology-assisted CR	Conventional center-based CR	9 RCTs	Risk factors and psychological outcomes: comparable between technology-assisted CR and CBCR
Popovici et al., 2023 [23]	CVD	Smartphones and digital methods in CR	Conventional CR or usual care	7 studies; N = 802	VO2peak and 6MWT favored intervention
Kenny et al., 2024 [24]	CVD	Digital CR incorporating behavior change techniques (BCT)	Varied / usual care	25 RCTs	Digital CR demonstrated significant improvements in daily step counts, light-intensity physical activity, medication adherence, functional capacity, and LDL-cholesterol compared with usual care, while showing clinical effects largely comparable to those of CBCR.

CAD: coronary artery disease, CR: cardiac rehabilitation, CVD: cardiovascular disease, ED: emergency department, MA: meta-analysis, MACE: major adverse cardiovascular events, mHealth: mobile health, MVPA: moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, NS: not significant, PA: physical activity, QoL: quality of life, RCT: randomized controlled trial.