Table 1 Inclusion and Exclusion criteria

Studies assessing telephone-based digital triage

Studies assessing telephone triage that is not digitally supported (e.g. triage conducted through paper protocols)

Studies assessing digital triage that is not telephone based (face to face)

Studies investigating telephone-based digital that is used for any/broad ranging symptoms (not condition specific)

Studies assessing the use of digital triage for specific conditions (for example, digital tools that provide patient condition self-management or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy would be excluded)

Studies investigating telephone-based digital triage that conducted by a member of health care service staff (clinician or non-clinician)

Studies investigating digital triage that used by a patient directly for self-triage (e.g. 111online)

Studies that examine the use of digital triage tools resulting in signposting and/or self-care advice for the patient:

Examples of signposting include advice to the patient to book a GP appointment, attend ED, ambulance dispatch and self-care

Studies that examine the use of digital triage tools resulting in other types of advice (e.g. condition specific advice only)

Telephone-based digital triage in services that provide urgent care, predominantly out of hours, including:

Call centre-based urgent care telephone services (examples: NHSDirect, NHS111), which may provide care 24/7

Out-of-hours and urgent care centres

Out-of-hours services run by general practices

Ambulance services (include only secondary triage of non-emergency calls, following initial assessment)

Studies in routine care settings.

Exclude triage services that only provide in-hours digital triage (for example, those used within usual general practice opening hours only).

Exclude triage that is utilised by hospital-based emergency departments, for example: the ‘Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale’ and the ‘Manchester Triage System’

Studies assessing outcomes relating to:

 1. Patterns of telephone triage service use by patients

 2. Service user (patient or carer) experience

 3. Service use following triage, including: ED attendance, GP attendance and hospitalisations)

 4. Health outcomes following triage, including mortality and hospitalisations

Studies that only explore outcomes that are not in the included list: e.g.

Studies that only explore experience of the staff member who uses the digital triage tool (e.g. non-clinician call handler for NHS 111, or nurse call taker for NHS Direct)

Accuracy outcomes: relating to comparison of triage outcomes between types of professionals

Studies of any design will be included

Examples: qualitative (interviews, focus groups, ethnography), quantitative (cohort studies, cross-sectional studies or RCTs) or mixed methods studies.

Reviews, discussion articles, conference abstracts, case reports

Studies published in English

Studies published in other languages

Studies published in the last 20 years

Studies published prior to 20 years ago