Abstract
<sec> <title>BACKGROUND</title> <p>Time toxicity, defined as the cumulative burden of time spent by cancer patients during diagnosis and treatment, significantly impacts their quality of life, treatment adherence, and imposes additional stress on family caregivers. Remote digital health technologies are considered effective strategies to mitigate this burden. However, systematic evidence regarding their impact on time toxicity as a specific outcome remains fragmented, and assessment methods are not yet standardized.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>OBJECTIVE</title> <p>This scoping review aims to systematically summarize the current landscape of remote digital health technologies in reducing time toxicity among cancer patients, including their technological types, mechanisms of action, and outcome measures. The findings will provide an evidence-based foundation for clinical practice, technology development, and health policy formulation.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>METHODS</title> <p>This scoping review adhered to the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review framework and strictly followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across 7 English-language databases (PubMed, Web of Science, CINAHL, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane Library, IEEE Xplore) and 4 Chinese-language databases (CNKI, WanFang, VIP, SinoMed). The search spanned from database inception to April 26, 2026. Inclusion criteria comprised original research studies involving cancer patients aged ≥18 years, utilizing remote digital health technologies, and reporting time toxicity-related outcomes. Two reviewers independently screened the literature and extracted data, resolving discrepancies with a third. Quantitative data were extracted using a standardized form and descriptively synthesized. Qualitative data were processed using content analysis.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>RESULTS</title> <p>Fifty-nine studies were included, with most (83.1%) published since 2020. Six technology types were identified, predominantly web portals (45.8%), videoconferencing (23.7%), and WeChat (22.0%). Five mechanisms of action were found, with direct substitution (33.9%) and process compression (28.8%) being most common. Time toxicity outcomes, categorized into travel time/visits, waiting time, total outpatient/visit duration, hospital stay/postoperative recovery, and unplanned healthcare utilization, showed consistent reductions in the first two dimensions, and significant benefits in the third. However, the latter two exhibited higher heterogeneity. Analysis revealed research gaps, particularly for video conferencing in prehabilitation/remote monitoring and WeChat in remote monitoring/data-driven triage. Only 6.8% of studies applied theoretical frameworks. Qualitative findings highlighted the elimination of travel/waiting times, and downstream benefits like energy preservation and reduced caregiver burden.</p> </sec> <sec> <title>CONCLUSIONS</title> <p>Remote digital health technologies show significant potential in reducing cancer patients' time toxicity, mainly by optimizing administrative processes and minimizing travel/waiting times through direct substitution and process compression. However, further exploration is needed for app-driven data-driven triage, wearable-assisted prehabilitation, and WeChat-based remote monitoring/triage. Future research must enhance theoretical guidance, standardize outcome measurement, and address global health equity, with nursing playing a crucial role in patient-centered digital health innovation.</p> </sec>