RESUMEN Introduccion: El apoyo telefonico es una intervencion que permite dar informacion, educacion y soporte psicosocial a los cuidadores familiares, por tanto es importante describir las diferentes alternativas con su correspondiente metodologia e impacto en la experiencia de ser cuidador. Objetivo: Revisar sistematicamente la literatura en relacion con la intervencion apoyo telefonico y su eficacia en la poblacion intervenida. Metodos: Se realizo una busqueda de articulos en las diferentes bases de datos, publicados entre los anos 1990 y 2010, considerando la solidez y la calidad de la evidencia sobre la tematica. Resultados: De 17 estudios que describieron el apoyo telefonico para cuidadores familiares, 6 tuvieron un alto nivel de evidencia, permitiendo un analisis comparativo para determinar la eficacia de la intervencion. Conclusion: Existen solidos resultados que soportan la eficacia del apoyo telefonico en la disminucion de la ansiedad, la depresion, el estres y en general mejoria del bienestar de los cuidadores. Salud UIS 2011; 43 (2): 191-201 Palabras clave: Cuidadores, apoyo social, enfermedad cronica, telefono, enfermeria ABSTRACT Introduction: The telephone support is an intervention that can provide information, education and psychosocial support to family caregivers, therefore, is important to describe the different alternatives with theirs methodology and its impact on the experience of being caregiver. Purpose: Reviewing systematically the literature in relation with the intervention of telephone support and his efficacy in the population studied. Methods : We performed a structured search of the articles in the different databases, published between 1990 and 2010, recognizing the strength and quality of evidence. Results: Of 17 studies that described the telephone support as an intervention for family caregivers, only 6 studies were considered high quality, enabling a comparative analysis to determine the efficacy of the intervention. Conclusion: There is solid evidence supporting the efficacy of telephone support in reducing anxiety, depression, stress and in general improve of the welfare of caregivers. Salud UIS 2011; 43 (2): 191-201 Keywords: Caregivers, social support, chronic disease, telephone, nursing